Rio 1 and a half: The Rio adventure and rescue
by VPVPVP
Summary: Spix macaws Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine journey to the city of Rio to meet with four more Spix macaws Zephyr, Breezy, Cobalt and Madison to breed with them and add more to the dwindling Spix macaw population. However the adventure turns into a nightmare when there is a second group of smugglers afoot, and Nigel is not among them this time.
1. Chapter 1

**Rio 1.5**

**This is my remake of a story I deleted. It will have some modifications and will be slightly different from the previous version. Instead of two macaw families in the beginning, there will be one with a brood of four chicks. However those chicks will be smuggled out of Rio. The rest of the story will be set between Rio and Rio 2 but this scene is set before the movie Rio.**

**Chapter 1- born and whisked out of Brazil.**

It was dawn, and the sun was rising into the sky from behind an oceanic horizon, colouring the surrounding sky and clouds various shades of yellow, pink and orange. At the edge of the ocean was a large city with a human-shaped statue overlooking it. This city was named Rio de Janeiro, a Brazilian city. Quite some distance to the city was a large rainforest. It was quiet and there was not a sound (yet). In one tree, a small bird (a green finch), was tweeting away. As it watched the sun rise into the sky, it jumped off the branch and chirped some more. It then fluttered acrobatically around some more branches on its way down to the forest floor, performing some corkscrews and hovers. The finch then flew past a log on the floor. Some smaller birds popped up through holes in the log as the finch flew past. Then the finch flew past some more groups of birds who jolted awake in response to its tune. Elsewhere in the jungle some toucans emerged from a hollow and took to the air while some other birds of various types also awoke as a beat began to start. Then the next minute the quiet jungle air was filled with music as the entire avian community erupted into song.

"Yaa, ya-ya-yaaa, ya-ya-yaaa, ya-ya-yaa!"

Various birds (macaws, toucans and more) then landed onto a number of branches and began to sing the first lyrics of the morning theme song, 'Real in Rio'

"All the birds of the feather... do what they love most of all... we are the best at rhythm and laughter, that's why we love Carnival..."

A flock of green-winged macaws were performing acrobats in the air and forming patterns with their wings. Frigate birds on some branches were beating their inflation sacs like drums.

"Call so clear we can sing to... sun and nature's big moon... dance to the music, passion and love, show us the best you can do..."

More macaws and toucans were flying acrobatically and dancing in groups, circling together. Then suddenly a female light blue macaw flew into the scene (this is NOT Jewel). Behind her a male blue macaw with darker blue feathers followed her (this is NOT Blu). They corkscrewed in the air and began to dance together as they sang the next line into the chorus.

Female macaw: Everyone here is on fire... get up and join in the fun...

Male macaw: dance with a stranger, romance and danger, magic could happen for

Everyone else: ree-e-eal in Ri-i-i-io all by itself (by itself)... you ca-a-an't see it co-o-oming, you can't find it anywhere else (anywhere else)..."

Some toucans then swung on vines while some other birds flew close to them. Around the dancing community, some mother birds with their chicks were watching the dancers from their hollows and nests. The two blue macaws were among the birds flying near the toucans.

"It's re-e-eal... in Ri-i-i-o, and know something else (something else), you ca-a-an't feel... it ha-a-appening, you can feel it all by yourse-e-e-e-elf."

Then the entire community drew their song to a close. The dancers congratulated each other on their performance as everyone returned to their hollows and nests to start their daily activities. The two blue macaws were flying back to their nest. They were destined to become parents and their eggs were due to hatch soon. As they flew back to their nest, a green-winged macaw flew by them and greeted them.

"Hi, Alexandre and Clarinda" said the red macaw, "Congratulations on your morning performance. You both are getting better at it."

"Thanks, Ade," replied Alexandre, the dark blue male macaw, "It's sometimes not easy to fly so close to another bird swinging on vines. I almost hit one as I was spinning past him.

"You green-wings certainly are amazing acrobats," said Clarinda, the female, light blue macaw, "Wish I was one of your species. I could perform with you then."

"I think you'd look rather silly among a flock of red birds, Clarinda," said Ade with a slight laugh, "I wouldn't recommend it. Besides, you'd be an odd bird in the flock while we're trying to do our patterns."

"True," said Clarinda with a smile. Then Alexandre flew up and said, "Well, it's nice talking to you Ade but we really must be getting back to our nest. Our eggs are getting cold and they're due to hatch soon."

"Oh yeah, you don't want to forget your eggs, do you, Alex," said Ade, "And I'd better be back with my mate and chicks too. They're waiting for me and I have three hungry mouths to feed. Anyway, see you soon."

With that Ade continued his journey back to his nest while Alexandre and Clarinda resumed their flight back to their hollow after saying goodbye.

"Boy, Ade sure seems to have his wings full, dear," said Clarinda.

"Yeah," replied Alexandre, "he's got three quite mischievous chicks to deal with, not to mention the food he's gotta find and provide for them and his mate."

"I just hope our own chicks aren't mischievous when they hatch," said Clarinda, "I can't wait for them to hatch."

Then the two macaws continued their journey back to their nest. They soon landed on the rim of their hollow entrance and went in. Clarinda went to the nest and sat on the eggs while Alexandre looked back out into the jungle.

"I'm off to get a mango and a couple of papayas, Clarinda," he said, "Would you like one?"

"Sure, my dear," said Clarinda with a smile. Then Alexandre took off.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, sweetheart," he called as he left. Clarinda smiled. Alexandre and Clarinda were the only known pair of their species known to the community. They were an extremely rare species of macaw called the Spix macaw and in all their life except the time when they were young and when they met they had never, ever seen another macaw of their species. Sometimes Alexandre wondered if there were any other Spix macaws out there and did think of an adventure out into Brazil but with a mate to tend to with four chicks on the way he will; not be able to for a few years. Alexandre was a handsome Spix macaw. He had dark blue feathers and was quite slender. He had a small sheet of head feathers flowing behind his head and stopping at his neck. He had white-blue patches around his eyes bridged across the top of his beak by a small band which joined to two eye patches together, giving Alexandre the appearance of wearing spectacles. He also had yellow eyes. His mate Clarinda was slightly shorter than Alexandre. She had cerulean blue feathers and was slightly chubby. Her face mask was quite unusual: it was blue-white, slightly lighter than Alexandre's but instead of going around her eyes and across her beak it was a heart shape. The 'heart' enclosed her eyes and beak and stopped at her neck, giving Clarinda the appearance of having a face mask like an owl's almost. Her crest was also unique: instead of being a single cluster of feathers like most macaws, Clarinda had two sets: each set of feathers started from close to her forehead and curved down the sides of her head, stopping at her neck. Her eyes were a shade of magenta pink. It is possible that somewhere in Clarinda's family line some of the females will have had this sort of crest style and it's possible that one of her chicks will inherit it. When Alexandre had gathered two papayas and a mango, he made his way back to his nest where Clarinda is waiting for him. As soon as he had arrived, he gave one of the papayas to his beloved mate and sliced the mango in half with his beak and gave half of it also to Clarinda. Then the couple began eating. As they were eating, Clarinda said, "You know something, dear? I would like to give a tour of the community to our chicks one day once they have got used to flying."

"That's something we could do, my Clarinda," said Alexandre with a smile. "I think we'll show them that human city Rio one day."

Clarinda smiled. Then the two macaws continued eating their breakfast. As soon as they had finished their papaya and mango breakfast, Alexandre began to admire their clutch of four eggs Clarinda was sitting on, before giving Clarinda a loving nuzzle.

"Not long to go now, eh, my beloved sweetheart?" he cooed romantically. Clarinda smiled

"Nope, my dear," she cooed back. Then Alexandre sat beside Clarinda and patiently waited for the eggs to hatch. They waited all morning until dinner time but there was still no sign of any cracking or chirping yet. Alexandre and Clarinda were getting hungry and their stomachs were rumbling.

"Boy, my dear, I'm getting famished," said Clarinda as she rubbed her rumbling tummy.

"Yeah, would you like me to get us both a pineapple this time?" asked Alexandre.

"Oh, I would love that, thanks," said Clarinda with a smile. Alexandre walked to the entrance of the hollow and was about to take off when Clarinda called, "Oh, Oh Alexandre! The eggs are starting hatch!"

At this Alexandre stepped back into the hollow and hastily ran over to the nest. Clarinda had stepped onto the nest rim and watched as the first of their four eggs began to rock and crack. A small crack had appeared in the shell of one of the white orbs and it grew longer and bigger. Then suddenly a hole appeared and a piece of shell fell down. Chirping was heard as more cracks formed in the shell. Then the egg began to split open and out popped a cute, baby chick. It was naked and had no feathers on it yet. Clarinda immediately picked up their first-born chick and looked at it with loving eyes.

"Boy, Alex, it's a boy!" cried Clarinda in excitement.

"Can I hold him?" asked Alexandre. Clarinda gladly handed their newborn son to him. Alexandre then gazed into his newborn son's eyes.

"Hi, I'm your daddy," Alexandre cooed. The baby chick opened its eyes and chirped.

"What shall we name him?" asked Alexandre.

"Names, of course, I forgot that," said Clarinda.

"I know, why don't I name this one and the third and you can name our second and fourth chicks?" asked Alexandre.

"Sounds good," said Clarinda.

"Then it's fair," said Alexandre, "How about we call our first son Al after myself?"

"That's an excellent name," said Clarinda, "I love it."

"Al it is, then," said Alexandre with a smile. Then he returned their son into the nest just as the second egg began to hatch. Out popped a second chick which was a girl. Clarinda picked her up and named her Flo after her mother. Then the next egg hatched and Alexandre named the third chick, which was a boy Ed, after his father. Then the fourth and final egg hatched and another girl was born. Clarinda named the girl Izzy. As soon as all four chicks were born, Clarinda sat back in the nest to keep the newborn chicks warm.

"Oh, boy, we're finally parents!" cried Clarinda in excitement. Alexandre nodded. Then he turned to the hollow entrance.

"Anyway, I'd better get some fruit right now," he said, "Not only are we hungry but our newborn chicks. I'll be as quick as I can."

"Okay, see you shortly," said Clarinda and Alexandre flew off. As Alexandre was browsing a pineapple tree for any ripe pineapples, he bumped into his friend Ade.

"Oh, hi, Alex," said Ade with a smile, "How are your eggs doing?"

"Oh, they've just hatched," replied Alexandre, "Anyway, no time to talk. I've very hungry chicks to tend to and we're hungry ourselves."

"Okay, I'll not delay you any further," said Ade, "It's understandable that you cannot talk with me since you've got chicks to tend to. Anyway, see you."

"See ya," said Alexandre as he found a pineapple. He picked that pineapple and then began to look for some more papayas. As soon as he had found two papayas he flew back to his nest where Clarinda and his chicks were waiting. Soon the family was munching away at the fruit. Over the next few months, Alexandre and Clarinda were very busy parents. They flew out and foraged for food for their four growing chicks. The family's green-winged macaw friend Ade sometimes helped, especially when they had trouble finding suitable fruit or are spoilt for choice. During this time, the chicks were growing and were larger than they were when they had just hatched. They had also grown their downy feathers and their features were becoming more prominent. Al, the oldest of the chicks and son, had yellow eyes like his father Alexandre but his feathers were not quite as dark a blue. His feathers were more sky or maya blue coloured and correlated more towards his mother's. He was beginning to show signs of a heart-shaped face mask just like his mother's, but his crest has not yet developed. Al only had a cluster of very short feathers on the back of his head. Flo, his younger sister and second oldest chick, also had the beginnings of a heart shaped face mask like her mother's and older brother's. However her feathers had a darker shade of blue, more like azure and correlated towards her father's shade. Her eyes were green unlike either of her parents and she had a short collection of feathers on the top of her head arranged like a small flower's petals. The third born chick, Ed, looked more like his father Alexandre. He had dark blue feathers, the same shade as Alexandre's and also showed signs of spectacle-like face markings. However his eyes were blue, a colour neither his parents had. Ed had very little signs of a crest. The youngest daughter and chick of the brood, Izzy, also had Alexandre's spectacle-like markings, or the beginnings of them but she resembled her mother more. Her feathers were a very vivid blue, almost electric blue, brighter than Clarinda's and Al's, and her eyes were a shade of pink, although they are brighter in shade than her mother's. She also had signs of a double crest like her mother's, but they were at the moment two tufts of feathers. Soon it was time for the chicks to learn how to fly and take their first flight. Ade, his mate named Fayre, and their three sons has offered to help and watch Alexandre and Clarinda get their chicks airborne for the first time. It was on a sunny day and it was morning. However before the chicks could take off, Alexandre and Clarinda were going through some basic principles of flight.

"We birds are built for flight," explained Alexandre, "and some of us consider flight one of the most magical abilities in nature."

"It's an ability humans cannot naturally do," put in Clarinda, "and it's also an essential skill you chicks have to learn because if you don't, you're going to have serious difficulty."

"What difficulty would we face if we didn't learn how to fly, Mom?" asked Al. Then Ade stepped forward.

"Well, you wouldn't be able to forage," he explained, "you wouldn't be able to escape predators, and you will not be able to live in the trees."

"It's not an option not to learn how to fly;" added Ade's mate Fayre, "All birds in this area must learn the skill. It may sound harsh but birds like us were not made to live on the ground. Down there is far too dangerous because there are predators like snakes and jaguars that prowl around and we could be easy targets for them if we lived on the ground. I told our sons that before they took their first flight."

"Erm... I have been told that there are some birds that don't fly at all," said Ade, "Like ostriches and rheas, so not all birds fly."

"That's true, Ade," said Alexandre, "But we're not ostriches, we're macaws, and macaws are flying birds."

Then he turned back to the chicks, "Right, that's the fact that flight is compulsory out of the way. Now let's discuss what we birds use when we fly."

Then he began to show the chicks the wing flight feathers.

"These," explained Alexandre pointing to the feathers in one of his wings "are our flight feathers. These are what help us birds to fly. Obviously you didn't have these sorts of feathers when you were younger but now that you've grown them, you're now able to learn how to fly."

"We birds flap our wings as we fly," said Clarinda, "we'll show you when we go out onto the branch that you'll be taking off from."

The chicks looked at their wings and saw the flight feathers growing on them. They still had downy feathers but that was moulting and being replaced by more adult feathers.

"So we will be using these when we fly?" asked Flo.

"Yes, my daughter," said Alexandre with a nod.

"So what goes on when we fly?" asked Izzy. Alexandre, Clarinda and Ade chuckled a bit.

"I'm afraid that's too complicated, Izzy," said Clarinda, "We just do it. If there's any mechanism involved that makes us fly, I'm afraid it's too complicated as we don't know how it works. But all you need to know is that our wing feathers are what help us birds to fly."

"And I think that's all you need to know about flight and its importance," said Alexandre.

"Boy, I can't wait to take my first flight," said Ed excitedly.

"Right, shall we start, then?" said Fayre. The birds in the hollow jumped excitedly.

"Yes, let's go!" said Alexandre and with that he guided the four chicks out of the hollow and onto the branch. As they climbed out of the hollow, Clarinda said, "Right, it may be frightening at first but once you get airborne, you'll no longer be afraid."

The chicks nodded in agreement. On the surface they were excited but underneath they were a tad scared. Once the group was on the take off point, Ade, Fayre and their sons flew to another nearby branch to prepare for any action should the chicks fall.

"Right, who would like to go first?" asked Alexandre. The four chicks discussed among themselves.

"Why don't you go first, Flo?" asked Al.

"You're the oldest, Al," said Flo, "You go first."

"I know, why don't we have Ed go first," said Clarinda, "Then we'll have Izzy go next and then Flo and finally, Al, before we have any arguing?"

When Ed heard this, he shook a bit. Reluctantly, he went to the front of the quartet towards Clarinda and Alexandre. Once he was beside his parents, Clarinda said, "Right, let's get you airborne, Ed."

"Are we going to hurl ourselves off the branch, are we, Mom?" asked Ed.

"Of course not," laughed Clarinda, "All you're going to do is simply step off the branch but don't worry. We or Ade or Fayre will catch you if you fall."

Ed looked at his mother nervously and gulped. Then he stood on the edge of the branch.

"Take your time," said Alexandre.

"You can do it, Ed," said one of Ade and Fayre's sons. Ed hesitated, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stepped off the branch. He then found himself falling and began to flap his wings madly. Ade immediately dived down after him.

"Come on, Ed," cried Ade, encouragingly, "Flap your wings. You can do it."

Ed continued to flap his wings and after another second of plummeting, he found his wings and flew upward. Ade also flew up beside him and when Ed came into Alexandre and Clarinda's view, Alexandre, Clarinda, Fayre and the other chicks clapped.

"Well done, Ed!" cried Alexandre, "You did it!"

Ed then began to loop-de-loop and corkscrew, laughing excitedly. Ade flew up beside him.

"Yippeee," cried Ed, "I can fly!"

Then he flew around some more and landed beside Alexandre and Clarinda, who hugged him. Then Alexandre said, "Right, Izzy, you next."

Izzy gulped and reluctantly made her way to the takeoff point. Like Ed, she stood nervously on the edge of the branch and looked down. She looked at Alexandre and Clarinda, who nodded encouragingly. Izzy sighed, closed her eyes and took a step off the branch. She began to flap madly as she fell but then she swooped down and then flew upward to the applause of her parents, siblings and green-winged macaw family. Next it was Flo's turn. She also nervously hesitated but then took a step off the branch, plummeted and then flew upward. Finally, Al did the same and he also took his first flight. By the time Al flew upward, his brother and two sisters flew after him.

"Well done, you four!" cried Alexandre with pride, "You did it!"

"Yeah," said Clarinda, "We'll be able to go on flight outs, now."

The four chicks continued flying around and were joined by Ade and Fayre's sons. The seven chicks danced together and whooped. The two families stayed together until nearly sunset. Then Ade felt it was time to go.

"Right, I think it's time we headed back to our hollow," he said.

"Yep," said Fayre.

"Ooooh," moaned their three sons, "do we have to?"

"Yes, you three," said Fayre, "It's nearly your bed time."

Alexandre turned and smiled at the green-winged macaw family, "And I think the same applies to us as well."

"Yes," agreed Clarinda, "Come on, you four, it's time we head back to our hollow."

Clarinda and Alexandre's chicks also groaned. Reluctantly they said goodbye to Fayre and Ade's sons while the adults also said goodbye. Then the families were about to go their separate ways.

"We'll see you anytime soon, Alex," said Ade, "And congratulations, you four, on taking your first flight."

"It's a much needed skill," said Fayre, "I don't know any macaws or toucans that don't know how to fly at all."

"Well if there is, then they'd be in a lot of trouble," said Alexandre. "Anyway, we'd better be off. Come on, you four."

And with that the Spix macaw family left while the green-winged macaw family left in the direction of their hollow. They said more goodbyes until they were out of each other's sight. As soon as Alexandre and his family were back at their tree, Clarinda immediately put their two sons Al and Ed and two daughters Flo and Izzy to bed while she and Alexandre decided to spend another hour together watching the sunset. Then after that hour, they went to bed.

A few more weeks had passed since Alexandre and Clarinda's chicks had taken their first flight. Since then Alexandre and his family had been out on a number of outings to various places in the jungle, meeting many more of the members of the community. However the chicks have yet to see the city of Rio de Janeiro, so Alexandre had decided that that would be the next trip out. On that morning, Alexandre, Clarinda and their four chicks were flying in the direction of the city. The four chicks were curious.

"Daddy," said Ed, "What's a city?"

"It's a place where a large number of humans live, Ed," replied Alexandre, "Cities are humans' places, so they are unnaturally constructed areas."

"They're not like our homes, kids," said Clarinda, "Our homes such as those in trees are natural but humans' homes are built by the humans themselves. You'll see what a city looks like when we get to Rio de Janeiro."

The kids looked at her curiously. Then the six macaws continued onward. A few minutes later they arrived on the outskirts of the jungle overlooking Rio.

"That," said Alexandre with a wing outstretched in the direction of the city "is Rio de Janeiro."

The four kids perched onto a branch and gasped in awe. They saw a cluster of grey and brown constructions built around a projection of water. Between the constructions and the water was a strip of pale beige, which was a beach. On one side of the watery projection was a large trio of chocolate-coloured hills. What was most striking was a large grey statue in a shape of a person overlooking the city from another hill.

"What's that grey thing over there?" asked Flo pointing to the statue.

"That's the Christ the Redeemer statue," replied Clarinda, "It's the landmark of Rio. Why the humans have built it there I don't know. It's probably some sort of decoration."

"Can we actually visit the city one day?" asked Al excitedly. His siblings nodded and smiled in agreement. Alexandre shook his head with a frown.

"I'm afraid it's too dangerous, kids," he said seriously, "there are numerous dangers and who knows what in that city. It's an awesome sight for birds like us to look at from a distance but to actually be in it, it's a different story."

"There could be humans that could catch us for one," put in Clarinda, "and there could be dangerous animals in there for another."

"Especially humans' pet cats," said Alexandre sternly, "My grandfather was almost killed by one when he went searching for my brother who had wandered off into that dangerous place. They're dangerous pets, those four-legged vermin, and I don't want to risk myself or you kids coming face to face with those bird-eating rats."

The kids looked at him wide-eyed. Then the six macaws continued staring at Rio. Soon it was time to return to the jungle, and the family was already on its way back. However they were in for a horrifying shock. When Alexandre, Clarinda and their four chicks returned to their neighbourhood after a few minutes flight from seeing Rio, they saw the entire community in chaos. Birds were flying around with frightened looks on their faces and squawking and several monkeys were dashing through the trees as though a predator was chasing them. At this, Alexandre and Clarinda looked at each other in shock while the kids were looking on horrified.

"What's going on?" asked Clarinda. Alexandre then tried to ask the flying birds the same question.

"Excuse me, what's..." he began with one blue-and-gold macaw, but the macaw was too scared to even answer him. Alexandre tried again with a toucan but the toucan barged past him. Clarinda also tried to ask a group of finches the question but they didn't notice her. Desperate to find out why this chaos was happening, Alexandre and his family flew further into the neighbourhood. Several more birds flew past the family, sometimes so close that Clarinda had to grab her kids and pull them out of the way to prevent the passer-by from colliding into or hitting them. By the time Alexandre and his family arrived within sight of their tree, Alexandre caught sighted five familiar faces fleeing with the other birds. Recognising them as Ade and his family, Alexandre flew up to him.

"Ade," gasped Alexandre, "Ade! What's going on?"

Ade didn't answer him at first. Then Alexandre asked him again, "What's happening? Why are all the birds fleeing here?"

Ade finally answered him.

"I strongly suggest you get your family out of this place too," he said, gasping for air.

"What?" gasped Alexandre in shock.

"Smugglers," Fayre explained frantically, "there are smugglers afoot in the jungle and they're capturing birds with nets and cages. We've just lost my sister and her family already but we managed to escape. If you don't get your family outa here right now you'll be caught as well."

Alexandre looked at her alarmed and saw a net fly and wrap round a passing military macaw. The macaw squawked in shock and plummeted to the floor. Realising that Ade and Fayre were right, Alexandre called for his family.

"Smugglers, Clarinda, kids! He squawked, "Smugglers! We need to get outa here, NOW!"

Clarinda gasped in shock and gave her kids a hefty shove. The Spix macaws then began to follow Ade and his family to safety.

"Did any of the birds see them come, Ade?" asked Alexandre.

"No, they came without warning," replied Ade, "if we don't get out of this place, we'll be caught."

The birds continued flying on as more nets flew in and caught more birds surrounding them. Then suddenly Alexandre heard some familiar squawks. At this he whipped round as though he had had a shock and to his horror he saw that his mate and four chicks had been netted. Clarinda and the kids had been caught and now they were plummeting towards earth.

"ALEXANDRE!" cried Clarinda.

"DADDY!" cried the kids. Hearing his family's cries, Alexandre immediately swooped down after them. Ade and his family followed.

"Clarinda, kids!" cried Alexandre. As soon as he had caught up with the falling net, he began to bite at the netting.

"Use your beak, Clarinda," cried Alexandre, "You too, kids! Use your beaks!"

Clarinda and the kids did so and began to chomp on the threads of the net. The group crashed onto the forest floor. The Spix macaws continued struggling with the nets just as Ade and his family landed beside him. The green-winged macaw family joined in with freeing Clarinda and the kids from the net. As the threads snapped, Alexandre immediately brushed his mate and chicks of the netting and hugged them.

"Right, let's go," he said but before they could leave, Ade was in horror with what was happening to the captured birds. A large number of four-legged mammals were collecting and taking the netted birds and putting them into cages. Alexandre immediately recognised these animals and commanded his family and friends to leave. The birds were about to take off when suddenly, one of the mammals pounced onto the Spix macaws, grabbing the four kids. Alexandre screeched and lunged at the mammal but it dogged and left with his kids who were screaming for help. Not wanting to leave his kids to the fate controlled by these mammals, Alexandre lunged at the mammal again as it was caging the kids but the mammal turned round, raised a paw and struck him across the face. Alexandre flew back and landed in a heap as the mammal let out a meowy laugh. Clarinda and Ade helped him to his feet. Ade then commanded Fayre to leave with their sons.

"I'm not leaving Alexandre's kids," screeched Fayre.

"I'ts too dangerous," snapped Ade, "If you try to free them you'll be captured or even killed, NOW GO! I'll catch up."

Fayre hesitated but then took off into the sky, with her sons in tow. Clarinda was about to lunge at the cage but Ade grabbed her wing.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THEY'RE MY KIDS!" cried the distressed Spix macaw.

"Clarinda, come on, it's too dangerous!" cried Ade. Alexandre then tried to get to the four kids again but there were too many four legged mammals.

"Oh, these BIRD EATING VERMIN!" cried Alexandre at the top of his voice.

"I'm afraid we can't get to them," Ade said, "There's too many of them."

Alexandre turned and then noticed Clarinda staring at something in the sky with wide, afraid eyes. Alexandre and Ade also looked up to see what she was staring at. In the sky was a large bird. It had white feathers, black beak and feet that were the same shape as a parrot's, and a yellow crest erected, and its brown eyes full of spite and sadism were fixed upon Clarinda (I bet you can tell who this is).

"Clarinda, come on," Alexandre whispered but Clarinda was too transfixed to even listen.

"Come on, Clarinda, we need to get out of here," said Ade. Clarinda continued staring at the white bird for a few more seconds and then rocketed into the air in a blink of an eye. The white crested parrot immediately swooped straight at Clarinda. Alexandre screamed.

"NOOO!" he cried and shot at the white parrot and tackled it to stop it from getting at Clarinda. The white parrot immediately retaliated and began attacking Alexandre. From the cage, his kids watched in terror and screamed as the two birds brutally fought. Then after a few seconds of fighting, the white bird grabbed Alexandre by the neck with a talon and stared into his eyes evilly.

"Pretty birds... sure are... vermin," it said in a spiteful, scornful tone of voice to Alexandre's horror. And with that the white parrot threw Alexandre at a tree trunk as hard as it could. Ade and Alexandre's chicks screamed as the blue macaw flew towards the trunk and struck it with brute force. Alexandre then collapsed onto the forest floor as the white bird began laughing maniacally. Ade went over to Alexandre and screamed at him to wake up. However Alexandre didn't reply but lay there lifeless. Ade continued screeching at him to wake up, crying and screeching.

"No," he cried, "No, no, NOOOOO!"

The kids screamed for their dad and cried. Then Ade looked up and saw the same white bird staring at him with eyes full of scorn and sadism. At this, Ade took to the air like a rocket, fearing for his life. The kids continued screaming for their dad but one of the four legged mammals slapped them, telling them to shut up. Then the white bird flew down to them and looked at the four kids evilly. Then soon the chaos caused by the smugglers died down as soon as it had started. The white bird and the four-legged mammals then went round the jungle floor looking for any other birds that their human owners had caught lying around. After finding no more birds lying around on the ground, the bird and the mammals returned to their owners. Next the birds that were caught found themselves being loaded onto a plane. Among the caught birds were the four chicks. They were looking round with eyes full of fright. They were being watched by the mammals whose eyes were full of spite like the white parrot's. Then as soon as the full load of captured and caged birds were on the plane, someone was paid and then the plane took off from the airport and left Rio and Brazil, taking its load of birds with it.

**Oh dear, what a tragedy for the four Spix macaw chicks. See what happens next in the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2- in the pet store and on to be owned**

A large number of cage birds were sitting in their cages on a plane. They were being watched by many four-legged furry creatures and a white, yellow crested parrot-like bird, whose eyes were full of meanness and sadism. The white parrot, eyes full of sadism and glee, gazed wickedly at the helpless birds. Some of the birds had been knocked unconscious and thus were laying limp in some of the cages. Among the caged birds were the four blue macaw chicks. They, too, had been knocked out. They had been screaming continuously for their parents and in fear but the white bird had struck them hard enough to render them unconscious so that they would stop their screeching. The four kids had no idea that they were about to be sold in another country in the next few hours.

Many hours later, a truck carrying a number of exotic birds drove through a busy city. It was a city in a country outside of Brazil, and it was raining heavily. It was the city of London, the capital city of the UK, and it was having a thunderstorm. The lorry continued driving through the wet streets. Around it, several urban animals such as pigeons were trying to shelter from the downpour of the rain while several people were running or walking quickly around. Some had umbrellas up while some others simply had coats on with their hoods up. In the roads, a number of cars were driving around, splashing water from puddles in certain areas on the go. The lorry continued driving through the grey, wet streets until finally it stopped outside a shop. It was a pet store, and it sold an entourage of exotic animals. As soon as the lorry driver had stopped in front of the pet store, he put his coat on and got out of the lorry just as the shopkeeper of the store opened the door and stepped out, also dressed in a raincoat. The lorry driver greeted the shopkeeper with a handshake and took a list of animals the shopkeeper had requested. The driver read it and smiled. Then he and the shopkeeper opened the hatch at the back of the cargo trailer and revealed the caged birds. All the caged birds were awake, but they were full of fear and confusion. They saw the two humans walk in and cowered in their cages. Then the shopkeeper and lorry driver set to work in unloading some of the cargo and carrying it into the pet store. They ran from the trailer to the door quickly to prevent the birds from getting wet, and then returned to pick up more birds. Among the caged birds were the four Spix macaw chicks. They, too, were carried to the pet shop by the shopkeeper. They had recovered from the knockout they had received from the white bird before they were loaded onto the plane and now had regained consciousness. They looked around in fear and confusion. The shopkeeper and lorry driver continued unloading some more of the cargo until the list was finally complete. Then after the last cage was unloaded and brought into the shop, the shopkeeper paid the lorry driver, said goodbye and then the lorry driver shut the hatch at the back of the trailer, got into the driver's seat and then drove off to deliver the rest of the birds to another pet store. After he had gone, the shopkeeper then set to putting the birds into aviaries. He called for three of his assistants to help him with this task. The assistants obliged and began to transfer the birds from the cages to the aviary. While they were doing this, the four Spix macaw chicks looked around the pet store. They saw a variety of exotic animals and other animals on offer. There were mammals, fish, reptiles and other birds from the tropical areas of Brazil, Australia, Africa and several other countries. Then suddenly the chicks found themselves picked up by an assistant. They jumped as the assistant then carried them to the parrot enclosure part of the aviary. Once the assistant had entered the aviary, she set the cage down and opened the door to allow the chicks to fly into the enclosure themselves, before leaving to pick up another cage. The other three people also set the cages down, opened the cage doors and left them there for the birds in those cages to fly out by themselves. The Spix macaw chicks looked around the aviary from their cage. They saw a variety of other macaws, parakeets and conures flying around in an artificially built habitat, complete with trees, sand and earth on the floor and smaller plants scattered about the aviary. The Spix macaw chicks had no idea where they were. Even worse, they had forgotten mostly who they were. They couldn't remember their own names or the names of each other, they couldn't remember where they had come from, and they couldn't remember having parents. However, they still remembered that they were siblings, and they still remembered how to fly. Nervously, the four chicks approached the open cage door and stepped out. One of the males then took off to have a look round, followed by his brother and two sisters. As they flew around the trees, exploring the habitat, the shopkeeper and his assistants had just finished unloading the rest of the macaws and letting them fly into the enclosure. The four chicks flew to a window and looked out as the shop assistants and keeper picked up the empty cages to take away and store and then move on to other jobs such as tending to the other birds. What the chicks saw through the glass was a miserable grey day, pouring with rain, as well as manmade constructions which were not green and bright like their home back in Brazil. Deep down the chicks missed their home and yearned to be back there. The other macaws with them also wished they were back home in their beloved habitat, flying around freely and enjoying the music of the community but now they were trapped in a cage, waiting to be sold to customers who wanted to have pets. With tears in their eyes, the four chicks flew away from the window and looked around the enclosure for a hollow. After a while, the four chicks found an empty, unoccupied hollow and settled in. They were full of fear and confusion. Sadly, the four chicks snuggled down to rest and then drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, the birds in the macaw aviary were waking up. In the macaw enclosure, the aviary was filled with the sounds of squawks and cries of the macaws as they woke up. Their cries woke up the four Spix macaw chicks, who reluctantly stretched their wings and shook themselves awake. Then one of the chicks named Ed (remember the chicks don't remember their names but I am just calling them by the names they received from their parents at the start of this story to distinguish them) walked to the hole of the hollow and looked out. He saw macaws of many types waking up. Some were preening themselves, while others were having a wash and eating breakfast. Then Ed's brother Al and sisters Flo and Izzy walked up to him. The four chicks then looked around for any fruit that were placed in the aviary until they saw an unoccupied feeding trough next to three scarlet macaws. As soon as they had seen the trough, the chicks flew to it hoping to find any fruit in there. However as they perched on the edge of the trough, one of the scarlet macaws on the adjacent trough hissed at them fiercely and threatened to attack them. The four chicks, intimidated by the macaw's size and hiss, backed away and shivered. Then the scarlet macaw stepped over to the trough the four Spix macaw chicks were on and began to stuff its beak greedily on the fruit inside, leaving the chicks disappointed. Then Flo saw another unoccupied trough and alerted her three siblings. The four chicks then flew over to the trough but before they could perch on it, four parakeets: three Australian crimson rosellas and a yellow-headed amazon, flew in and perched on the rim. They then began eating the fruit inside that trough. The four chicks backed away, disappointed again. Then Flo tried to sneak a piece of mango from the trough while one of the rosellas was not looking, but the rosella hissed at her and pushed her away. She then returned to her three siblings and the four flew back to their chosen hollow with sadness and hunger. Later, every parrot in the parrot section was fully awake. Some were chatting, others were playing. The four Spix macaw chicks were loitering around near the sandy and earthy ground. Izzy was playing with a toy, looking bored, while her three siblings were just sitting on a branch near her, downhearted and sighing as if disappointed. While the four Spix macaw chicks were just perched there, one of the scarlet macaws saw them and flew over to them. The four Spix macaw chicks looked up and were alarmed at the size of the red feathered parrot. The parrot just looked down on them sympathetically, but with a condescending attitude under the sympathetic surface. Two more scarlet macaws then appeared and perched next to it, one on its left and the other on its right. They had the same pseudo-sympathetic looks on their faces.

"We've never seen parrots like you before," said the first scarlet macaw, which was a male. The four chicks just looked at him and then back to the ground with sad eyes.

"You four look like a mutated form of hyacinth macaw," said one of the macaw's friends, a female, who was perched on the first macaw's left, "you have blue feathers, but are missing the yellow eye rings and markings next to your lower beak mandibles."

The four chicks did not reply to this. Then Flo spoke.

"We don't know who we are," she said mournfully. The first scarlet macaw tittered.

"Well, I'm not surprised, you four feeble blue macaws," he said with a hint of spite in his voice, "we have no idea what species you four are at all."

"Maybe you could be some type of hyacinth macaw," said the third macaw, another male, perched on the third macaw's right, "Because you have blue feathers and almost black beaks and feet."

The four chicks still didn't reply and continued staring at the ground or playing with the toy.

Then a sun conure appeared and rebuked the scarlet macaws.

"You three red bullies better beak out," it said, "I can tell you're trying to make these four blue newbies feel even worse. Now why don't you go and look down on another bird your own size?"

The three scarlet macaws looked disdainfully at the sun conure.

"What is it with you and your interruption, Sunny?" muttered the first macaw.

"We are only trying to sympathise with these blue birds," said the second macaw.

"We're not being nasty to them or anything," denied the third macaw. However Sunny stared at them with a firm look. Reluctantly and disdainfully, the three scarlet macaws cleared off. Then Sunny walked up to the four Spix macaw chicks.

"Are you four alright?" he asked with true sympathy. The four chicks did not reply.

"I can tell you're seriously miserable and perhaps homesick," said Sunny, answering his own question when he saw the chicks' faces, "I feel homesick too."

"We don't know where we are," moaned Izzy mournfully.

"We're in a human's place," said Sunny as he looked around, "a pet store, I think."

At this the four chicks looked up at him slightly alarmed.

"We are where?" asked Izzy.

"We're in a pet store," repeated Sunny, "It's where animals like us birds are kept here and sold to humans who want to own us."

The four chicks didn't understand what he was saying however and just looked at him confused. Sunny sighed and said, "I think because you're new here as well as very young, I don't think you understand."

"By the way," continued Sunny, "My name's Sunny. I'm a sun conure. What are you four called?"

At this question the chicks shrugged their shoulders. They couldn't remember their names or the names of each other at all.

"I don't think we have a name, to be honest," said Ed sadly. His siblings nodded in agreement.

"But... you four must have names somehow," said Sunny quite surprised, "because how are we going to refer to you?"

The four chicks just looked at him with sombre expressions. Then one of the crimson rosettas appeared.

"I think they've just been traumatised from the introduction into here yesterday," said the rosetta. "I and my friends certainly were when we were imported into this miserable place."

"As was I when I was taken out of my Brazilian home, Sadie," said Sunny with a sigh. At the sound of 'Brazilian home' the four chicks were alerted.

"We were enjoying the sun and the colourful habitat when all of a sudden poachers came in and snatched most of us right out of the air before you could say 'sun parakeet'," said Sunny with a quiver, "I was among the captured birds. And then hours later, here I am."

Sadie the crimson rosetta then turned her attention to the four blue macaw chicks.

"I think these four must have been suddenly taken and whisked out of Brazil too," she said quite sympathetically, "no wonder they're still shaken from yesterday. By the way, do you know what sort of parakeet they are?"

"Hyacinth macaws?" inquired Sunny and then he looked at the four chicks who just stared at him and Sadie. "No, no, no, no... Hyacinth macaws have very dark blue feathers and yellow rings around their eyes and lower beaks, don't they?"

"Yes, they do," said Sadie, "Unless these four are a type of hyacinth macaw?"

The four chicks just looked back at her confused. While the six birds were talking, the sound of a door being opened was heard. The six parrots were alerted to the sound and looked in the direction to see the shopkeeper walk in followed by two more adults and an excited child. The other parrots were also alerted by the sound. At this, Ed asked, "What's going on?"

"I think those three humans are here to choose which of us birds will be taken away to be their pet or pets," replied Sadie, "I think that young human with those two grown-ups wants a pet bird."

"Pet bird?" asked Ed.

"In a pet store," replied Sunny, "Animals such as us are kept here until we are chosen by humans to be kept as pets."

"And that's where the fearful part comes in," shivered Sadie. The four Spix macaws trembled slightly.

"What fearful part?" asked Izzy timidly.

"Some humans are kind to animals," said Sadie, "But some are cruel. When a bird or birds get chosen and taken away by humans, they never know what sort of owner they'll meet."

"I've heard of an African grey parrot that had to be brought back here when his owner abused him and starved him," said Sunny, "He's alright now but I just hope I don't face that when I get taken away to be a pet."

"Same here," agreed Sadie. Then the six birds looked up and saw the shopkeeper enter into the aviary. Alerted, Sadie, Sunny and the Spix macaw chicks retreated to behind a tree and looked out. They then watched the shopkeeper, who had a sympathetic smile, approach a young red-crowned conure carefully with a cardboard box perforated with holes and filled with tissue and hay. The young conure backed away timidly.

"Looks like that conure's been selected to be the pet of that young human," said Sunny as he observed the shopkeeper carefully catch the conure.

"I hope that kid takes care of him," added Sadie. "And not neglect him like that owner did to the African grey parrot."

"Will we be selected too?" asked Al.

"Only time will tell," replied Sunny, "I've been in here for many weeks and still have not been chosen by those humans, but it could happen soon."

"We don't wanna be pets of a cruel human," muttered Flo.

"Like we've said before, we never know what to expect from our new owners," said Sadie. The four Spix macaw chicks began to weep as they did not want to accept this fact. Then the six birds watched the shopkeeper leave with the conure in the box and the three humans and the door closed. The six birds returned to where they were earlier. Sunny smiled to the four Spix macaws and said, "Well, I think I'm going to have a fly around and keep an eye on those three scarlet macaw brutes. I don't want those three thugs intimidating new birds, especially young and small ones."

And with that he flew off. Sadie then sighed and said, "And I'm off back to my friends. I hope you four are going to be alright."

The four chicks just looked at her and sighed. Sadie sighed herself and left, leaving the four chicks to remain sat in the same place as before. A few more hours passed when the shopkeeper came into the enclosure again. This time he had a woman with him.

"I would like some birds for my two daughters," said the lady, "it's their birthday soon and they have been asking me for ages for a pet bird or two."

"Well, we'll see what we can find, my dear," replied the shopkeeper as he shut the door and began to browse the parrots. The parrots were alerted to the shopkeeper's presence and looked at him curiously.

"What would you like for your daughters, my dear?" asked the shopkeeper, "We have scarlet macaws, Australian crimson rosettas..."

"I'm after some parrots that are young," said the lady, "My daughters aren't that old; they're only kids, so I am after some young parrots that would become attached to their owners as they grow up. Adults are a bit more difficult."

"Well, okay," said the shopkeeper with a smile and then he entered the parrot aviary. As usual he had a cardboard box filled with tissue and hay and perforated with holes. Many of the parrots backed away in fear as the man entered the enclosure. The lady browsed the birds from the outside and saw four small blue birds sitting on a branch near the ground. At this she raised an eyebrow

"What sort of parrots are those four blue birds near the floor?" she asked.

"What four blue birds?" asked the shopkeeper and then he saw the four Spix macaw chicks.

"I don't know what they are, my dear," he replied. "I've asked the lorry driver that when he was delivering them but he replied that he didn't know, so I'd assume they're a type of blue parakeet?"

The lady smiled and said, "I think four blue parakeets will be just fine for my two daughters. Can I have three of those parrots please?"

"Certainly, madam," replied the shopkeeper politely and turned his attention to the four blue macaw chicks. When the macaw chicks saw the shopkeeper approach them, they were alarmed and backed away. The shopkeeper smiled and said, "it's okay, you four. I'm only going to catch you."

The four chicks still backed away as the shopkeeper lowered the box and a hand near them. Then carefully, the shopkeeper scooped up three of the four chicks into the box. Behind a tree, Sunny watched the whole action.

"Looks like those four blue chicks have been selected," he said quietly. Then the shopkeeper was about to return to the lady when he heard the other blue chick cry and fly after the other three chicks in the box. At this he tried to brush the chick away but still he still persisted. Finally, the shopkeeper gave up and allowed the chick into the box. Then he closed the box and returned to the lady.

"Sorry about that, my dear," said the shopkeeper, "But it seems that the other chick didn't want to be left behind and that I have forgotten to scoop it into the box with the other three. Will four do?"

"Oh, four is fine with me, thanks," replied the lady. Then the two humans left for the checkout desk so that the lady could make her payment. As the shopkeeper carried the chicks out, Ed looked through one of the holes and saw the aviary one last time before the door shut. The lady then made a payment with the shopkeeper and then took the box with the birds in it away. She then said goodbye to the shopkeeper and left the shop, walked down a few streets of London and finally arrived at her house. She then unlocked the door and entered the house. As soon as she had stepped in, shut the door and cried, "I'm home!" two girls and three boys rushed in to meet her. The lady (who was the mother of the two girls and aunt of the three boys), smiled and said, "Hello, Susan, Lucy and Blake, Drake and Jake. Yes, I've got a prezzie for you Susan and Lucy. But give me a minute while I sort myself out and I will show you what's in this box."

At this the two girls cheered and ran into the living room followed by the three boys. The lady then took off her coat, hung it up and then carried the cardboard box through to the living room. She was then met by her husband, who gave her a kiss on the cheek, and her brother and-sister-in-law. The lady then sat down on the couch as the five kids gathered around her. The family were Christians and they believed in God.

"So, what's in the box, Mother?" asked one of the girls.

The lady then smiled and said, "Ah, it's your first birthday present. I've decided to make it an early one as it is your birthday this week and since you two have been asking me and your father so many times about wanting a pet bird as you two are into nature and the sciences."

The two girls and three boys looked at her in anticipation as the lady continued firmly, "But before I open the box Susan and Lucy, I want you two to promise me to take care of these birds. You are to feed them, give them attention and spend time with them. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mother," replied the girls together.

"Good," said the lady and with that she opened the box and the five kids looked in. They smiled widely and excitedly when they saw the four birds. The four birds, at this, backed away timidly. Seeing the four young chicks back away in fear, one of the girls took sympathy on them. She gently inserted a hand to carefully pick up one of the chicks. As she did that, the chicks backed away against a corner but the girl reassured them.

"Don't worry, little chick," she said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

Still the chicks backed away into the corner. Then the girl picked up Ed and carefully hugged him. At this Ed felt a wave of warmth sweep over his body. Then the other girl carefully inserted a hand into the box and picked up one of the females, Flo and hugged her, making her feel warm and comforted as well. Then the girls picked up Izzy and Al and hugged them also. The three boys smiled enthusiastically. The four chicks felt comforted by the act and nuzzled against their new owners' cheeks. The mother smiled at this.

"So, what would you like to call them?" she asked. One of the girls that had Ed and Flo in her hands looked at the two chicks.

"I think I'll name this one (Ed) Cytosine and the other one (Izzy) Thymine," she crooned sweetly, "After two of the bases in DNA."

"And I would like to name these two (Al and Flo) Adenine and Guanine," said the other girl. The three boys smiled as did the girls' mother.

"Well, they're quite odd names for your new birds but if that's what you want, then so be it," said the mother.

The kids smiled. The four chicks thought of their new names for a while and then smiled. They liked their new names. Just then the three boys' mother called the family to tea. At this the kids, the girls' mother and father went through o the kitchen. The five kids took the four chicks with them to the table, much to their mother's slight annoyance. However the girls insisted that they eat with the family too. The mother then obliged but as long as the parrots don't sit at the table. The five kids nodded and placed the chicks on a smaller table while the boy's mother sorted out a few fruit pieces for the birds. As soon as she had done that, she gave a small bowl of fruit to the four chicks, who immediately dug in for they had not eaten since this morning. Meanwhile the humans sat themselves around the table while the boy's mother got out a full chicken and set it on the table. Then after she had sat down, the family said grace and then began to eat.

Over the next few years Ed, Izzy, Al and Flo (which from now on I will call Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine and Guanine respectively), along with their new owners (who were named Susan and Lucy, and their cousins were called Blake, Drake and Jake), grew up together. The two girls and the three boys then went to secondary school and then college and studied biology, physics and maths while their four blue birds also studied alongside them, having gained an interest in the sciences, especially biology; the group also went to science fairs and then applied to go to university. During this time Blake, Drake and Jake and their cousins Susan and Lucy had purchased a number of other pets, also as babies:

A female green-winged macaw whom they named Ruby;

A male blue-and-gold macaw named Jasper;

A male great green macaw named Emerald;

A female hyacinth macaw named Sapphire;

A female harlequin macaw (green-winged/blue-and-gold hybrid) named Opal;

A male tabby cat named Veggie, who was vegetarian and absolutely refused to eat meat of any sort and;

A male greyhound named Dash

Soon the group managed to get a place at university and chose to do a degree in animal ecology.

**Right, that's it for chapter 2. Stay tuned for chapter 3 **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3- Species find out and shock**

The pets grew up during the time period alongside their owners. As they did so, the four Spix macaws and the other pets had changed in appearance and also got bigger. Cytosine had grown up into a macaw with blue feathers of the same shade as his father's back in Brazil. He had spectacle-like face markings around his eyes and across the top of his beak and he had blue eyes. His crest had grown into an unusual cluster of feathers: rather than pointing back as in most macaws, Cytosine's cluster pointed forward like a human boy's hair. He had also been given a sky blue bowtie by his owners as a present as he grew up. Cytosine also had a slender body shape. One of his sisters Thymine had become brighter in her blue plumage colour. Her feathers were now a vivid electric blue and her eyes had remained a pink colour. Like Cytosine, Thymine had spectacle-like facial markings. She also had the same unusual double crest her mother had: two sets of feathers that start from her forehead and curl down the sides of her head to near her neck. Her attire was a pink headband with a flower on it. Her body shape was also slender. Thymine and Cytosine's older brother and sister, Adenine and Guanine, had grown quite tall, slightly taller than their younger brother and sister, and were both stocky. However they had quite different features. Adenine was a lighter shade of blue than Cytosine but not as bright a blue as Thymine. His feathers were sort of a maya blue, similar to the colour of the sky. He had yellow eyes and the same heart-shaped face mask as his mother much like an owl's. Adenine had no visible crest on the top of his head but he did have short spiky feathers near the base of his head. His attire is a simple red collar around his neck. Guanine, the second oldest of the brood, was different again. While she had the same owl's face mask as Adenine, Guanine had green eyes. She also had an unusual shade of blue to her feathers for a female: her feather colour was more azure blue, darker than Adenine yet lighter than Cytosine. Guanine's crest was also unusual and different again. Her crest was a set of short feathers arranged and spreading outward from the top of her head, rather like the petals of a flower. Her attire was a green ribbon tied like a scarf around her neck. As the four Spix macaws grew up, the other seven pets had also grown into beautiful and handsome young adult animals. Ruby, the green-winged macaw, had grown into a red bird with brilliant blue and green wings. The majority of her body was red, but her wing flight feathers were green and bluish. Her tail feathers were a mix of blue and red, and her beak was black and white. Her talons, however, were a dark grey. Ruby's crest was a large cowlick that made her head look onion-shaped and her eyes were amber. Sapphire the hyacinth macaw had grown into a very large macaw with dark blue feathers. She was the tallest of the pets and was almost twice Cytosine and Thymine's height. Like all hyacinth macaws, Sapphire had black feet and beak, yellow rings around her eyes and by her lower beak. Her eyes were a shade of indigo, and her body shape was slender like Ruby's. Her crest was quite an untidy feather ruffle. Emerald had grown into a handsome great green macaw with brilliantly leafy green feathers mixed with yellow. He also had brilliant blue and red feathers scattered on certain parts of his body. His beak and feet were dark grey and his eyes were green. Emerald had a stocky build and his crest was a flat sheet of feathers over his crown just behind his red forehead. Jasper had grown into a handsome blue-and-gold macaw with turquoise blue and amber yellow feathers. His back was a brilliant turquoise blue and his front, eye patches and wing undersides were amber yellow. Jasper had a slender build and had striking sky blue eyes. His crest was a short sheet starting from above his beak, and was green. Like all blue-and-gold macaws, Jasper had a black 'beard' below his beak. His beak and talons were black like Sapphire's. Finally, Opal the harlequin macaw had grown into a beautifully coloured macaw. She was the most colourful bird in the group and had a strikingly bright orange-red front and green, blue and light blue back. She had a black and white beak and dark grey feet, a short feather ruffle on the back of her head and a slender build. Her eyes were unique in that the irises were not the same colour. Opal's left eye was blue and her right eye was green (the term for differently coloured eyes was heterochromia). Opal's species was a hybrid, a cross between a green-winged macaw and blue-and-gold macaw and was never found in nature. The two mammals and the only non-birds of the group, Veggie and Dash, had grown up into a handsome cat and energetic greyhound respectively. Veggie was an unusual cat; he preferred vegetables and fruit over meat and will NOT kill a mouse, bird or fish, so he was bird friendly. His fur was striped with black, orange and brown and he had brown eyes. His attire was a simple red collar with an ID tag. Dash was a large dog with slender legs, long tail and small head typical of a greyhound. He is the fastest runner in the group and was named for his speed. He was good friends with Veggie and the birds. Dash had blue eyes and a collar like Veggie's but was coloured blue instead of red.

There were eleven pets altogether and although they were specifically owned by one of the five humans (Susan owned Cytosine, Thymine and Ruby; Lucy owned Sapphire, Guanine and Adenine; Blake owned Jasper and Opal; Drake owned Emerald and Jake owned Dash and Veggie), they were all shared by all five. The humans themselves had also grown up and when they had left home they had found their own place and moved in together so that they could start their degree. Susan was the oldest of the two sisters while Lucy was the youngest. Blake, Drake and Jake, their cousins, were identical triplet brothers and wore specific attire of their favourite colour. Blake often wore red clothes, Drake often wore blue and Jake often wore yellow. Susan and Lucy had also developed a hobby of baking and making bath bombes and soaps while Blake was into candle making. However all five were into biology and were about to start their degree in ecology together.

It was a few weeks since Susan and company had started their degree. The sun was coming up over the urban city of London as it was dawn. As it was rising in the sky, it shone into a house through a window. A woman was asleep in a bed just as the digital alarm clock placed on a set of drawers by the bed struck seven. As soon as it struck seven, it let loose a bleeping noise. The woman groaned, reached out toward her clock and turned it off, before turning over. Outside her room, another woman was getting prepared for a shower when she was met by a young man.

"Oh, sorry, Lucy," said the man, "I was just getting a drink."

"It's okay, Drake," replied the girl whose name was Lucy. Then Drake looked into the first woman's bedroom.

"Is Susan up yet?" asked Drake. "It's seven o'clock gone."

"She should be," said Lucy, "We have an early lecture to go to."

"I'll get Cytosine to get her up," said Drake and with that he called for one of the parrots. A blue macaw came up to him.

"Can you get Susan up please, Cytosine?" asked Drake. Then the parrot named Cytosine nodded and flew into Susan's bedroom. Unlike Blu when he lived with Linda in Minnesota, the United States, Cytosine was able to fly around the house with ease, something Blu had never learned to do during his entire life as a domesticated macaw. Cytosine landed on the door handle and pressed it to open the door. Then he flew into the first woman (named Susan)'s bedroom and pulled Susan's quilt off of her. Susan, at this, felt for her quilt but dozed off again. Then Cytosine fluttered onto the bed and tugged at Susan's hair gently but Susan lifted her hand and wafted him away. Cytosine landed on the set of drawers by the bed and put his wings on his hips, a tad annoyed. Then a tabby cat came walking in with something in his paw. Cytosine turned to him and frowned as the cat jumped up onto another set of drawers and onto the top of a wardrobe.

"What's that you've got in your paw, Veggie?" asked Cytosine with a slight frown. Then the cat named Veggie grinned widely and mischievously.

"This is my last 'wake-up call' resort when all else fails, Cytosine," said Veggie with a slight mischief tone in his voice as he prepared to throw the thing he had in his paws. "In other words, it's a balloon filled with cold water."

Cytosine expanded his eyes in shock as Veggie tossed the balloon through the air at Susan. The balloon burst over Susan's head and sent water splashing all over her. Susan sat up with a jerk from the cold and gasped in shock.

"Oh," she cried, "Oh, what the- oh, Veggie, are you up to your tricks again!?"

Veggie laughed loudly, jumped down from the wardrobe and left the room before Susan could get out of bed after him. Susan was annoyed and began to wipe her face of the water.

"That cat and his tricks honestly," she muttered, "one of these days I'm going to have him tested."

Then she turned to see Cytosine laughing his head off but he stopped abruptly when he saw Susan staring at him with a stern look. Then Susan smiled

"Hi, Cytosine," said Susan with mock annoyance, "laughing out loud at my reaction to the water balloon, huh?"

Cytosine just stood there. Then Susan patted him on the head and said, "Come on, let's go downstairs and get you some breakfast."

Cytosine nodded and followed Susan out of the room. As Susan exited her bedroom, Blake met her.

"Ah, there you are," he said with a smile, "Tried to sleep in, huh?"

"Yeah," said Susan. Then another lad appeared.

"I'm afraid you can't do that, Susan," said the lad, whose name was Drake, with a smile, "We have an early lecture today."

"Thanks for letting me know," said Susan and with that she left for downstairs. Downstairs, the other pets were up and about and were helping with the chores. Another Spix macaw, the one with the electric blue feathers named Thymine, was wiping down the worktops by flying over them and moving a cloth side to side with her feet. Close by two more Spix macaws, Cytosine and Thymine's older brother and sister, Adenine and Guanine, were emptying a bin while Blake and Drake's other brother, Jake was preparing another, fresh bin bag. Guanine and Adenine then carried the full bag to the wheelie bin outside. Like their brother Cytosine, Adenine, Guanine and Thymine could also fly, as could the other five birds. However no-one in the group, not even Cytosine and his siblings themselves, had any idea that Cytosine and his sisters and brother were an extremely rare species of macaw on the brink of extinction. For all they know they were simply a type of blue macaw, perhaps a hyacinth macaw, only smaller with lighter blue feathers. However, they were too small to be a hyacinth macaw as hyacinths were often massive birds, and they certainly can't be a parakeet. No-one did not know what species of macaw Cytosine and his siblings were, yet. Elsewhere, Ruby the green-winged macaw was booting up the computer while Jasper, Emerald and Sapphire were getting the owners' bag and things ready. The pets knew about the timetable and know their owners have an early lecture today. Opal was getting the fruit and dog food bowls prepared just as Susan came walking down the stairs. Dash immediately got up and jumped up at Susan to greet her. Susan smiled and patted him on the head before continuing to the worktop to prepare some breakfast for her sister, cousins and pets. Then Lucy came walking down the stairs with Blake and Drake behind her. Lucy had just had a shower and was now prepared for the day. Behind her, Drake was carrying three books which were Bibles. As the humans grew up, they had kept their Christian faith and did Bible study almost every day, and went to church every Sunday with few exceptions. While Susan was preparing breakfast with Lucy helping her, Drake placed the Bibles on the table to do after breakfast was made. Then as soon as Susan and Lucy had finished preparing breakfast, they got ready to feed the pets. Then the nine birds and Veggie, including Opal, got their bowls and queued up to receive their meal. Susan scooped a portion of fruit and put it into Thymine's bowl.

"Right, next," said Susan and Guanine came up. Susan placed some fruit into her bowl and then Guanine left. Then Adenine placed his bowl before Susan and she filled his bowl.

"Good boy," said Susan as Adenine left. Next came Ruby with her bowl and Susan filled hers with fruit. Then Jasper, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal and then Veggie came in with their bowls and Susan filled theirs one by one. Cytosine then came in with his bowl and landed beside Freddie just as Sapphire received her breakfast.

"You're quite late," said Opal quite surprised. Cytosine just sighed and said, "Just got sidetracked, that's all."

Then the queue went down until Veggie and Cytosine had their bowls filled. After this, the Spix macaw and cat left to find somewhere to eat their breakfast. During this, Drake had filled Dash's bowl with dog food and set it down before Dash who immediately went to eating it. Then the humans prepared their own breakfast and left for their table to eat it and start Bible study. As the humans were eating and studying the Bible, the pets began to talk. Like their owners, they believed in the existence of God. Opal, the harlequin macaw, was reading a book on genetics while munching on a piece of mango.

"Hey, guys," she said, "did you know that a strand of DNA in a human cell's nucleus is around 3 metres long?"

"Good grief!" cried Ruby the green-winged macaw in shock as she ate a piece of pineapple, "and such a length of the molecule is packed into a tiny little cell's nucleus?"

Opal nodded. Then Dash the greyhound smiled as he ate his dog food.

"I think what amazes me most is the fact that DNA is such a complex molecule, both in its structure and in its role as an instruction manual for the cell's function," he said, "Even in a simple bacterium, it's very mind boggling."

"No way could such a molecule evolve," said Guanine while she was eating a guava, "it looks too complex to have come into existence by chance and natural processes, so it must be obvious that a Creator must have designed it."

"Yes," said Opal, "and that Creator is God."

"The parts of a gene in a DNA molecule that gives instructions on what protein to construct need to be in a specific order," said Cytosine, "if the resulting protein is to function."

"A bit like how a human instruction book is specifically written so that the reader can put together a functioning machine, I suppose," said Emerald the great green macaw as he held an orange piece.

"One of our owners Blake is into genetics," said Jasper, the blue-and-gold macaw, "He absolutely loves the subject and is studying it alongside the main ecology degree."

"It seems that our owners also have other hobbies besides ecology and biology also," said Thymine, "Susan and Lucy have taken up making soaps and bath bombes while Blake has also taken up making candles."

"I know," said Adenine while he had a piece of papaya in his talon, "He has a stash of candles and wax in his room."

"I wish I could help him," said Jasper, "But he doesn't allow me anywhere near the candles or his work area."

"It's because making candles is quite dangerous, Jasper," said Thymine.

"Yeah, there's molten wax involved," said Sapphire, the large hyacinth macaw, "and if any accident occurred with the stuff such as a spillage, you could be seriously injured. Emerald was almost badly scalded when he accidentally knocked over two moulds full of molten wax Blake had just filled and left to set the other year. Since then Blake has banned us from ever going anywhere near wax and candles."

"I remember that incident very well," said Emerald, "It's a good thing I dived out of the way because I'd have been injured."

"Are soaps and bath bombes just as dangerous?" asked Guanine.

"Soaps are, yes," said Sapphire, "there's heat involved in that as well. Bath bombes, I'm not so sure."

"I should think they're quite risky as well," said Guanine, "even though there are two main ingredients involved: citric acid and sodium bicarbonate."

"Sodium bicarbonate?" said Cytosine, "that's the stuff primarily used in baking, isn't it?"

"It's what makes bath bombes fizzle when they are tossed into water, Cytosine," said Ruby.

"They are also often impregnated with scent which they give off during the process," said Emerald. "My favourite flavour's got to be orange."

"Mine's lemon," said Jasper with a smile as he took a bite out of a piece of pineapple. "I always love that citrus fruit's taste and smell."

"You're the only one who can stand the taste of that sour fruit, Jasper," said Emerald, "None of the rest of us can devour a piece of that fruit easily."

"I can't stand them," said Amethyst. The other pets smiled at this. Then they continued eating. While they were munching away, Veggie was reading something on an Ipad.

"Oh, no," he said.

"What is it Veggie?" asked Adenine.

"You know you're not supposed to have electronics with you while we're eating," said Cytosine with a slight frown.

"I've just read on this article that people want the Resurrection of Jesus to be confined to the realm of myth and fiction," said Veggie and he showed the other pets the title of the article he was reading on the Ipad. The other pets were shocked.

"But it DID happen didn't it?" said Sapphire.

"The Bible says so," put in Ruby.

"If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, how can humans be saved from their sins?" said Cytosine.

"It's also part of the core of the teachings of Christianity," said Veggie, "If the Resurrection didn't happen, then Christianity's just a sham."

The other pets nodded in agreement. A few minutes later, Lucy, Susan, Drake, Blake and Jake had finished their breakfast and Bible study and were getting ready to go to the campus to attend their early morning lecture. As they were getting ready and checking their bags to ensure that they have got everything they needed for the lecture, Jake was on the computer researching something on birds when an article on a species of macaw caught his eye. At this, he opened the article and read some of it, and then saw a picture of a five blue birds on the article. Two were large and three were small. The blue birds had similar features to Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine.

"Hey, guys," called Jake, "Look at this article."

The other four humans came over to Jake. Some of the pets also did the same.

"What is it, Jake?" asked Susan.

"Look at the picture of those five blue birds," said Jake as he pointed at the picture, "Do you think they look quite like our own four birds?"

Susan, Lucy, Blake and Drake looked closely at the picture. Opal and Ruby also managed to get a glimpse of the image on the article.

"What's that article about?" asked Opal in a whisper.

"Shh," replied Ruby. On the other side of the five humans, Thymine, Sapphire and Emerald managed to get a glimpse of the image Jake was pointing out. There were five birds in the picture, all macaws. Two were large and three were small. One of the large macaws had dark blue feathers, the same shade as Cytosine's, but it had three small feathers out the back of its head and a tuft of feathers around its neck. It had a stocky build and its eyes were coconut brown, and a blue-white patch surrounded each of its eyes. Beside the blue bird was a shorter, slender bird with lighter blue feathers similar to Thymine's but slightly darker. In fact, the shade neared Adenine's feathers more than Thymine's as Thymine was an especially bright blue. This macaw had an almost white face mask surrounding its eyes and beak, stopping between its eyes. It had turquoise-green eyes and a cluster of feathers sweeping out at the back of its head. In front of the two large macaws were the three small macaws. These macaws were only a fraction of the two big macaws' heights and looked quite similar to each other. One of them had cerulean feathers similar to the big light blue macaw and had greenish eyes; another had blue feathers like the big darker blue macaw and had brown eyes and the third little macaw had cyan feathers that were sort of half way between blue and cerulean. It also had brown eyes but they were slightly lighter. Each of the three little macaws had blue-white patches around their eyes. All five birds had dark grey to almost black beaks and feet much like Cytosine and his siblings. "Hey, those two blue birds look just like Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine and Adenine," said Sapphire.

"What article is Drake reading?" asked Thymine. Emerald squinted at the title of the tab on the top left of the computer screen.

"It looks like it says 'Spix macaw (_Cyanopsitta spix...)'..._ it's hard to tell," he replied. Then Cytosine, Adenine and Guanine came up.

"Spix macaw?" inquired Cytosine. Then Adenine looked hard at the picture of the five birds.

"Those two blue birds look like us," he said.

"How can that be?" asked Guanine, "We've never, ever met or seen any other macaws like us as far as we know."

Then the pets heard Jake read, "These two Spix macaw individuals, named "Blu" (the male), and "Jewel" (the female), were the last known Spix macaws in the whole entire world. Even though they have successfully mated and had three chicks, two females and one male and concluding the success of ornithologist Dr. Tulio Moneiro's work and efforts, the question on the future of the species still remains: Will the Spix macaw ever be saved from extinction? This question has still been bugging ornithologists even after the success of one Spix macaw pairing and reproduction. That is until four more Spix's..."

At this Jake was cut off when Lucy realised the time.

"I'm afraid we don't have time, Jake. We'll look into this properly after the lecture," she said. Jake immediately got up and began to look around the room for his bag. While the five owners were getting ready, the 11 pets looked more closely at the article Jake was reading. Dash finished reading the paragraph that Jake was reading. After he had finished reading the paragraph, the pets were in shock.

"So the Brazilian ornithologists have found four more Spix macaws from the wild and brought them into an aviary in the hopes that they would breed but with no success?" inquired Veggie.

"Looks like it," replied Ruby. Cytosine continued staring at the image of "Blu", "Jewel" and the three baby macaws in front of them. He then looked hard at "Blu's" blue feathers and then his own. Cytosine then looked at a picture of himself, Ruby and the other 9 pets posing around Susan near the computer and saw his facial markings. They were quite similar in colour to "Blu's" in the picture on the article about Spix macaws. At this Cytosine's eyes widened in wonder as a question was repeating in his head, _are we critically endangered Spix macaws?_

Suddenly Drake came in and bookmarked the page. Then he began to shut the computer down. The pets were slightly startled and moved out of his way.

"'Scuse me, pets," said Drake as he turned off the computer, before rushing to get his bag. Then as soon as the five humans were ready and have said their prayers, Susan said to the pets, "Right, we'll see you guys when we get back, which will be about 11 o'clock, so please be good. 'Bye."

"Don't get up to mischief," added Drake. And with that, the five humans left, shut and locked the door. The 16 pets then picked up their breakfast bowls and put them away into the sink to be washed, and then sat around on the floor together. Cytosine was quite troubled.

"Something tells me that I, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine could be the same species as those five macaws we saw in the picture," said Cytosine.

"They really did look very similar to us," said Thymine.

"The owners are going to be looking into this by the time they get back," said Ruby.

"We were often told that we were some type of hyacinth macaw. I know you keep telling us that don't you Veggie?" said Adenine. Veggie nodded. He had often assumed that Cytosine, Adenine, Guanine and Thymine were some rare and diminutive type of hyacinth macaw ever since he met them as a kitten and has often told them that. Sapphire shook her head at Adenine's comment.

"You're not hyacinth macaws like me," she said, "You're far too small for one; your feathers are too light a blue for another, and you don't have yellow markings around your eyes and lower beak mandibles for a third. Hyacinth macaws are always large birds with dark blue feathers and yellow markings."

"Well, if they are not hyacinth macaws," said Veggie curiously, "Then what sort of macaw are they?"

"A type of parakeet?" inquired Opal.

"I don't think so," said Emerald, "I've overheard some friends of our owners refer to them as macaws numerous times."

"Well, if they are not a species of parakeet," said Opal, "and if they are not a type of hyacinth macaw, then maybe they could be..."

At this she stopped, hesitant to say the species of the five birds she had seen on the article.

"What?" asked Emerald. Opal remained silent. At this, Thymine looked at her with a concerned face. Then Veggie came up and said, "Well, we'll get to the bottom of this when our owners come back but for now, let's chill out until they do."

The other 10 pets sighed and dispersed to find something to do. Veggie decided to go for a bit of a walk out the back, so he left the house via a door flap built for him and for Dash and went outside. Outside it was quite sunny but the sky was also cloudy and it was slightly breezy. Veggie looked up and took a deep breath to draw in some fresh air before walking on. However, as he walked on, a banana skin suddenly flew in and struck him on the head, followed by laughing and jeering. Veggie shook himself of the banana skin and turned in the direction in which it flew at him. As he did so, he saw a group of about five cats sitting on and around a couple of metal dustbins laughing and jeering at him.

"Well, well, if it ain't the veggie cat," said one of them, a black and white cat and the ringleader. Veggie just took no notice and walked on.

"Hey, fruit head," said another of the five cats, a ginger coloured one, "How is it that you don't eat fishies, birdies and micies despite the fact that we cats are built to do?"

"I think he's nuts," said a third, another black and white cat. The other two, an all-black cat and a ginger and black one, nodded in agreement. Then all five cats burst out laughing again and threw a metal tin and an apple core at Veggie. Veggie just grinned and looked at them.

"Well, we cats weren't carnivores in the beginning," he said, "When God created us animals, and Adam and Eve, all we ate was plants and fruit, but after Adam had sinned against God, some of the animals became meat eaters, and yes, it's true that we cats are one of those animals. However, that doesn't prevent us from eating a vegetar..."

But the cats laughed even more at this and threw more rubbish at Veggie. Then Dash came out and said, "Come on, Veggie, come back inside. Those five cats are acting immaturely."

Veggie gave a sigh and began to follow Dash back inside. As he went, the black cat screeched in mocking laughter again.

"Hey, guys look!" he jeered, "He's even friends with our natural nemesis, a dog!"

The other four cats rolled about laughing and flailing their legs as Veggie and Dash disappeared through the large door flap. Once the cat and greyhound were back inside, Sapphire had turned the computer back on to research 'Spix macaw.'

"What are you doing, Sapphire?" asked Dash.

"I would like to research the topic on those blue birds we saw on that article Jake was reading rather than wait 2 hours until our owners return for one and have them distracted from their studies for another," replied Sapphire as the computer's desktop appeared on the screen.

"But... didn't Lucy say that they would research that when they got back, Sapphire?" asked Veggie slightly irritated.

"Yes but I didn't feel like waiting," replied Sapphire, "Also, it's troubling Cytosine and his siblings, so I would rather get this subjected sorted now rather than later."

Veggie jumped onto the worktop near the computer while the other birds gathered around her.

"But surely Cytosine and his two sisters and brother could just be a species of hyacinth macaw," said Jasper, "Or a small subspecies of hyacinth perhaps."

"I told you they're not hyacinth macaws," snapped Sapphire slightly, "They're too short and light a blue to be hyacinths. Haven't you been listening?"

Jasper flinched slightly at the comment. Then he continued.

"Mind you those macaws in that picture we saw earlier really did resemble Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine," he said, "They had feathers that were similar shades of blue, similarly coloured facial markings..."

"We'll see about that once I've brought up the article," said Sapphire as she clicked on the internet icon that opened a link to the internet. Once she was on there, she began to look for the bookmarked article that Jake had earlier added to the bookmarked link list. Once she had found the link, she clicked on it and brought up the article about the Spix macaw.

"So what are the features of a Spix macaw?" asked Opal. Sapphire scrolled down the article until she found the picture of "Blu", "Jewel" and the three little macaws in front of them.

"Apparently those five birds must be of the _Cyanopsitta spixii _species this article is describing," she said.

"But are Cytosine and his siblings of the same species as them?" asked Ruby as she walked up to Sapphire's side.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," replied Sapphire as she began examining the picture of the five macaws. Ruby also looked closely at the picture and pointed out something.

"Those beaks and feet of the two big macaws," she said, pointing to "Blu's" beak. "They're dark grey and the same shape as Cytosine and his siblings'."

Sapphire looked at the two big macaws.

"They're definitely not hyacinth macaws," she said, "since they don't have the yellow eye rings and mandible marks that I have, and I should think they'd be over half my size, from the description of those two in the introduction."

Cytosine and his siblings were wide-eyed in awe and surprise.

"Same beak shape and colour?" inquired Thymine. Ruby turned to her and said, "Those two macaws in that picture definitely have the same beak shape and colour as yours, you four."

"Is that true?" gasped Adenine.

"And that's not all," added Emerald, "Those two big macaws also have whitish to blue-white facial markings similar to yours even though yours may be different in shape and size."

Sapphire then turned round and said, "No other macaw species, not even hyacinths or related dark blue birds, have those facial markings."

"And those two macaws named Blu and Jewel look similar in body shape to your four as well," put in Jasper.

"It's in the description of the species," said Opal, "It says that Spix macaws have dark grey to black beaks, whitish-blue to white facial markings and blue feathers ranging from dark blue to cerulean or vivid blue..."

"Vivid blue?" gasped Veggie, "that's the shade of Thymine's feathers, isn't it?"

"So what does all this mean?" inquired Cytosine. "Are we Spix macaws?"

"Well," said Sapphire as she turned round, "you four look quite like Blu and Jewel in the photograph on that article. Your beak colour and shape are almost like theirs, and you have white-blue facial markings like them, so..."

Then it dawned on Cytosine and his siblings that their species was _Cyanopsitta spixii, _and that their species was almost extinct.

"Well, if that is true," said Guanine, "Then we must let our owners know."

Then Emerald and Opal began fiddling with the printer under the monitor.

"I'm going to print this article out," Emerald said, "we'll show our owners when we get back."

"Our owners are going to be seriously surprised when they find out that they have four extremely rare birds in their care," said Opal.

"Definitely," said Veggie who came in to help, "It could even mean Cytosine and his siblings being transferred into that area where Blu and Jewel are kept for conservation."

"Transfer?" asked Cytosine.

"Conservation?" inquired Thymine. Ruby turned round and said, "If a pet bird or other animal's species is found to be extremely rare and critically endangered, that pet would have to be transferred to a conservation area to be protected."

"Every individual of a species, particularly if it is close to extinction," put in Sapphire, "is valuable. Say if Ruby's species, the green-winged macaw is extremely rare. Ruby here would be transferred to an enclosure."

"Exactly," said Ruby.

"That would mean we would have to go to Rio since that enclosure is in that area," said Guanine.

"It's a possibility," said Dash, "and it would also mean something else."

"What else?" asked Thymine.

"It could mean that you four would have to be paired up with any other Spix macaws found so that you could breed," said Ruby.

"Breeding and reproduction is an essential part of animal conservation," said Jasper, "I've read about it in an ecology book. It has a chapter on species conservation, and it mentioned that breeding helps increase the population of an endangered species."

"What?" gasped Cytosine.

"So we would have to breed and have chicks so that our species could be increased?" asked Thymine quite shocked.

"As part of the conservation project," said Jasper. At this, Cytosine gave a slight laugh of sarcasm.

"But Jasper," he said, "We have never thought about finding mates and having children. As far as we know, there are no other birds like us."

"Except for Blu and Jewel in that photo," said Thymine.

"Yeah, but they're in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Thymine," said Ruby.

"So are the four other Spix macaws that have been recently found," said Sapphire, "apparently the researchers have found no sign of any brood of eggs or chicks from the two couples, so apparently they're not breeding."

Then Dash came up just as Emerald and Veggie were printing out the article. Opal came and stood beside Sapphire.

"Susan and Lucy are not going to like this," he said worryingly, "they love these four blue macaws so much and they would be heartbroken to release them."

"So would we," moaned Opal, "They're like family to us."

"Well, there may be no choice, Dash and Opal," said Sapphire, "if these four are species are so close to extinction, then they would be sought after by Brazilian conservationists."

"Actually, I would like to meet a mate one day," said Guanine delightfully, "and I would love to have chicks and a family. I've always wanted to go to Rio."

"Me too," said Adenine. Ruby gave a sigh and said, "Well, we'll see when our owners get back and when we show them the article, and then we'll see where we'll go from here."

Cytosine and his siblings, Sapphire and Dash nodded in agreement while Emerald was shutting down the computer. Then the pets dispersed to find things to do. Over two hours later, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake had returned from their lecture. When they entered the house with Veggie and Dash running over excitedly to greet them, Emerald immediately flew to the desk and grabbed the printout of the Spix macaw article, before flying to the owners with the pages in his beak. While the five humans were patting Dash, Veggie and some of the birds that had gathered around them, Jake saw Emerald with the pages.

"What have you got there, Emerald?" asked Jake as he took the pages from the great green macaw's beak. Jake then looked at it as Emerald perched on the back of a chair. When Jake saw that it was the article on the Spix macaws, he raised an eyebrow.

"Did you print these off, Emerald?" he asked the green macaw. Emerald nodded and gave a slight squawk. Sapphire then flew up and perched on Jake's shoulder without him expecting it.

"Steady on, girl," said Jake slightly annoyed. Then Sapphire began to indicate something with wing gestures. She pointed to the picture of "Blu", "Jewel" and the three blue macaw chicks and then to Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine, squawking.

"What is it, Sapphire?" asked Jake confused. Sapphire continued pointing to the photo in the article and to the four blue macaws sat on a worktop. Susan was slightly annoyed.

"Don't tell me you've been eating some food that have sent you hyper, haven't you?" she sternly asked the hyacinth macaw.

"Quiet, Susan, she's trying to tell us something," said Jake. Sapphire then took the pages that had the description of the Spix macaw and the photo of the five blue macaws and began to indicate to Susan, Lucy, Drake and Blake that Cytosine and his siblings fit the description and were similar to the two big macaws in the picture. Susan took the page and read the description while Lucy looked at the photo of "Blu" and "Jewel" and then at Cytosine and his siblings.

"Hey, Susan," said Lucy, "Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine and Adenine are very similar to these two blue macaws in the picture."

"I pointed that out before we left for our lecture," said Jake as he stood up with Sapphire on his shoulder. Then Susan raised an eyebrow and said, "Is there a number or email address this Tulio guy has put down on that article? I would like to contact him."

"Hang on," said Jake as he scanned the bottom of the final page until he found an email address to the Blu Bird Sanctuary, a conservation area in Rio. Jake immediately began searching for a pen. Opal found one, picked it up in her beak and carried it to Jake. Jake took it.

"Thanks, Opal," he said as he circled the address. He then gave it to Susan.

"Here you go," said Jake. Susan took it and looked at it. Then she went to the computer to turn it on. As she booted up the computer, Drake had a thought.

"Shouldn't we send a picture of Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine?" he asked.

"That's a good idea, bro," said Blake.

"We just need one up-to-date picture of just those four birds," said Drake, "Is there one on the computer?"

"There is," said Susan as she clicked on the link to open the internet, "we'll use the one we've taken of the four blue macaws perched on a branch in a tree during our last trip to Central Park a few months ago."

Then Susan went onto Facebook, a social website, and signed into her account. After this, she prepared a message and typed in Tulio's email address. Next, Susan opened up the photo album containing all the photos taken recently and scanned through them for the one of Cytosine and his siblings sitting in a tree in Central Park. All the photos had been taken with a digital camera and had been uploaded into the computer for storage. As soon as she had found the image, she attached a copy of it on the message. Susan then wrote the message and sent it to Tulio. This done, she gave a sigh.

"Right, now all we need to do is wait for a reply," she said, "But in the meantime, we've got studies to do."

"And I've got to take Dash for a walk," said Drake, "It's my turn, so I'd better get prepare for that."

When Dash heard this, he rushed off to get his lead while Drake left to get his coat. After he had gone, Susan signed out of Facebook and shut the computer down, before leaving to look for a suitable ecology book. Opal looked up and saw that Susan might require the book she was reading. At this, she closed the book and backed away to allow Susan to pick it up.

"Thanks, Opal," replied Susan and left. Then Lucy, Blake and Jake dispersed to do their studies also while Drake returned with his coat. Dash immediately ran to him with his lead and gave it to Drake. Drake took it and tied the lead on Dash's collar. Then Drake called, "We'll be back in about an hour."

The other humans and pets replied and then after a prayer to God for a safe journey, Drake opened the door and went outside with Dash in tow.

**Phew, that was quite strenuous. Now Cytosine and his siblings finally know they are ultra rare Spix macaws, but an email from Tulio will confirm it. find out in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4- off to Rio**

Two days after Susan had sent a message via Facebook to the Blu Bird Sanctuary in Brazil, and after another lecture in the afternoon, Susan was on Facebook checking for any response when she found the reply that she and her group had been waiting for: it was from Dr. Tulio Monteiro, the head ornithologist of Tulio's Aviary and Blu Bird Sanctuary. At this, Susan opened up the message and called everyone over.

"Guys," she said, "I've got a reply from Dr. Monteiro."

The others gathered around her. The 11 pets did the same.

"Oh, right," said Drake with a smile.

"What did he say about the picture of our four blue macaws?" asked Lucy. Susan read it and her eyes widened in shock.

"He says that they are Spix macaws," she said, "and that they need to be transferred to the Blu Bird Sanctuary in Rio, Brazil as soon as possible."

The other four humans and 11 pets reacted at this.

"I knew it," gasped Ruby.

"Wait, there's more," continued Susan, "Dr. Monteiro has added that he'll be sending one of his employees, a macaw expert named Francisco Abilio, PhD, to our place to tell us more about the Spix macaw and that he'll require us to go with him to Brazil but first he needs our address so that Francisco could find us."

"What? We have to go to Rio?" asked Drake.

"But we have only just started our ecology degree!" added Blake in protest.

"I don't think we have room in our timetable for a trip to Brazil," put in Jake. Susan just looked at her identical triplet cousins.

"Well, we don't have a choice, you three," she said sadly, "Dr. Monteiro is emphasising the importance of the transferring of our four blue macaws, which we now know that they are Spix macaws, to the Blu Bird Sanctuary for conservation since it is on the brink of extinction."

The other four humans just looked at her sadly. Then Susan gave a sigh and said, "I'll send Dr. Moneiro a reply with our address and a reminder that we have just started an ecology degree at university and we'll see how we go. It could mean a paid for trip to Brazil because I always wanted to go to Brazil myself."

And with that she typed in the group's address and sent it to Tulio. After she had sent the reply message, Susan called together Lucy and her cousins and said, "We need to pray about this."

And with that they left for upstairs. After they had gone, Dash looked at the other 10 pets, especially at Cytosine and his siblings.

"We told you so, Cytosine," he said, "You're of a species of macaw on the brink of extinction."

"But how are we going to go to Brazil with this degree in progress?" asked Cytosine.

"We'll have to find out when that Francisco guy arrives here," said Ruby.

"And I think he will be very persistent as well," added Veggie, "Don't forget that there have been four more individual Spix macaws found recently over there and they haven't been showing any signs of breeding, so that means that Cytosine and his siblings would be sought after more than ever because they want to save the Spix macaw from extinction."

"Wait, they want us to breed as well?" asked Thymine.

"That's one of the top priorities in conservation, Thymine," said Jasper, "Reproduction is the only way a species can increase in number."

"But we're not even ready to have chicks yet," said Cytosine quite irritably.

"Cytosine," said Ruby, "There are two male and two female Spix macaws found over in Rio that hadn't mated at all, and there are two males and two females in our group. When Francisco arrives and examines you four, he'll not hesitate to say that you'll be paired up with those four macaws over in Brazil."

"The more breeding Spix macaws there are," said Sapphire, "the better as far as their project is concerned."

"So that would mean five breeding pairs including the Blu and Jewel couple we found on that article?" inquired Adenine.

"Yes," said Sapphire. Then Guanine was about to say something when Susan, Lucy and their cousins came downstairs having finished their prayer. Emerald looked up at them.

"They'll be expecting a visit from a Brazilian macaw expert in the next few days," he said.

"Yeah," said Opal in agreement, "I'll be looking forward to what he'll be saying about Cytosine and his brother and sisters."

Guanine just looked at the harlequin macaw with a slight sorrowful face. Then she turned to Blake as he left to make some candles to take his mind off things. Veggie and Emerald came up with a smile as they saw Blake gather some candles he had recently purchased, two pans, and a set of candle mould used for shaping the molten wax when it is poured into them.

"And it looks like we'll have to keep well away from Blake while he has molten wax in the pan as well," Emerald said.

"Definitely," said Veggie, "Not to mention the moulds he has to place in a cool place so that the candle wax can set."

"We'll have to bear that in mind where he places them," said Guanine, "We don't want any of us having accidents by flying too close to the candles while they are setting and knocking them over onto ourselves like what almost happened past time."

And with that she gave Emerald a stare. Emerald just sighed as he remembered his incident.

A few more days had passed since Susan had replied to Tulio on Facebook and today just started up like any other university day. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were studying having just finished breakfast and Bible study, the nine birds were reading and Veggie and Dash were just relaxing in their beds. Outside it was a miserable day. It was dull, grey and cloudy and rain was pouring heavily like a giant shower. Thunder could be heard at irregular intervals as there was a thunderstorm today. There were no lectures on so Susan and company were just catching up on their studies. Opal the harlequin macaw was sitting on the window sill staring outside at the rain and observing passing cars and people running around with umbrellas and hoods up.

"Boy, what a miserable day today," she said, "Jake was going to take Dash for a walk but has put it off because of this."

Close by her, Jasper was reading an astronomy book, turning a page, while Cytosine was reading a book about bird anatomy, physiology and ecology. Susan, Lucy and their cousins had quite a large selection of books on various subjects.

"Hey, Jasper," said Cytosine, "Have you ever wondered how we flying birds are put together for flight?"

"Sometimes," replied Jasper, "but I never really got into the subject, to be honest."

"Well, look here," said Cytosine, pointing to a diagram of the internal anatomy of a typical bird. "We have hollow bones for weight reduction, a streamlined shape to our bodies, large chest muscles and an efficient air sac system. I always wondered how we are able to fly."

Jasper looked at the diagram.

"Well obviously, wings and flight feathers aren't the only things we birds need for flying, Cytosine," Jasper explained, "We also need lightweight skeletons, large muscles and excellent balance to help us fly."

"Truly evidence of design isn't it?" said Cytosine with a smile, "I often heard Lucy describe us as one of God's most awesome creations."

"But the most interesting birds I believe were those wired birds found in the fossil record like _Archaeopteryx,"_ said Jasper. As he said this, Veggie came up.

"I agree with you Jasper but what I find so ludicrous is the belief that you birds had evolved from dinosaurs; theropods like _Velociraptor _to be specific," he said. Cytosine shook his head in shock.

"What?" he snapped, "How have we birds descended from dinosaurs?"

"Oh, I know where this is getting to," muttered Jasper, "some scientists actually believe that we birds are LIVING dinosaurs."

"But we're not dinosaurs," said Cytosine with a frown, "Dinosaurs were reptiles."

"And to add," said Veggie, "It doesn't make sense to believe that fruit eating birds like parrots and cockatoos are descended from reptiles that were carnivores."

"Theropods and birds were created by God separately," said Jasper, "So it's obvious we didn't evolve from theropods."

"Yeah but those who believe in the theory of evolution will dismiss that right away, Jasper," said Veggie. "Don't forget that."

Jasper and Cytosine just looked at him. Meanwhile, Opal was continuously watching more people run past the house in the rain when she saw a man come running towards the window across the road. The man was gasping and yelping as he tried to avoid the many cars on the road and then dash for the kerb. Opal jumped when the man tripped on the kerb and fall flat on his face near a puddle. Cytosine, Jasper and Veggie also heard it and went over to the window to see what it was. Lucy also did the same and went over to the door. She opened the door and went outside into the pouring rain to help the man up.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she helped the man to his feet. Drake came out to help him.

"Let's get you inside," said Drake, "It's chucking it down today. I'll get you a towel and dry you up."

"I could do with that, thanks," said the man and with that, Lucy and Drake helped him inside, shutting the door behind them. As soon as they were in, Lucy sat the man, who was sopping wet as though he had been swimming in a pond, down in a chair while Opal and Drake left to get some towels. Susan, Blake and Jake went over to the man with the other pets as the man took off his drenched coat. Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine sat on the table in front of the man together. Blake took the waterlogged coat and left with it to the tumble dryer.

"Do you want me to make you a cup of tea or coffee, sir?" asked Jake.

"I could do with that, thanks," said the man as he shivered with cold. Jake left just as Opal and Drake came back downstairs with some towels. Drake then wrapped one towel around the man's shoulders and head and helped dry his hair while Opal sat down next to Cytosine and his siblings. Across the living room in the kitchen, Jake was boiling the kettle. While he was doing this, the man began to complain.

"Tch, this British weather, honestly," he muttered as a thunderclap was heard outside, "it's not like in Brazil where it is warm and sunny quite a lot and torrential downpours are less common. Here it seems to be sunny and warm one day, and raining a lot the next."

"That's British weather for you, I'm afraid," said Susan as she helped dry the man's hair. Jake then came in with the man's cup of coffee.

"Thanks, young man," said the man politely. Jake smiled at this. Then Susan began to ask the man a few questions.

"So I presume you're the macaw expert sent by Dr. Monteiro from Rio, Brazil, aren't you?" she asked. The man began to fumble in his pocket until he produced an ID card and gave it to Susan. Susan took it and read it.

"Yes, ma'am," said the man, "I'm Francisco Abilio, PhD. But please, call me by my first name, Francisco."

Susan then gave Francisco back his ID card.

"So Francisco," she said, "You've come over from Brazil to see about our four blue macaws?"

Francisco dried himself with the towels, stood up and handed the towels back to Drake, who took them away to put into a tumble dryer with Francisco's coat. As he left, Francisco began to admire the collection of birds Susan, Lucy and their cousins had in their care.

"Wow you certainly have a collection of birds, young lad. Are they all macaws?" he said to Susan. Susan smiled as Lucy began to introduce each pet to Francisco.

"This is Ruby... and Jasper... and Emerald... and Sapphire," she said as she introduced the green-winged, blue-and-gold, great green and hyacinth macaws to Francisco. The birds raised their wings in a 'hello' gesture. Francisco smiled at them.

"Tulio loves macaws," he said to himself, "they must be one of his favourite birds, though his favourite bird of all is the owl."

"...and this is Opal," said Lucy as she pointed to the harlequin macaw. Opal also raised a wing as Francisco smiled at her.

"This sort of macaw is not found in nature," he said, "this one's a hybrid, bred only in captivity."

"...and these are Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine," said Lucy as she reached the four Spix macaws. The Spix macaws also raised a wing as a greeting. Francisco smiled. Just then Veggie and Dash jumped up onto the table.

"Oh and this is Veggie, our cat and Dash, our dog," said Lucy. Veggie and Dash raised a paw to greet Francisco. When Francisco saw Veggie, he was surprised.

"Wait a minute, you have a cat AND birds?" he asked.

"Yes," said Blake. At this, Francisco frowned.

"Well, it's a bit risky to keep a cat and birds at the same time," he said, "because you know what they're often like with birds?"

"It's true," said Lucy, "But Veggie's a vegetarian cat. He absolutely won't kill a bird and eat it."

"He won't eat fish or mice either," said Blake, "his preference of food is fruit, vegetables and vegetarian cat food."

"Well, that's quite unusual," said Francisco. Veggie smiled.

"That's because we cats were originally vegetarian when God created us before Adam sinned against Him," he said, "but when Adam sinned against God and some animals became meat-eaters, among them cats, that's not to say that cats don't eat fruit anymore."

Then after Lucy had finished introducing each of the 11 pets to Francisco and after the five humans had introduced themselves as well along with a handshake, Francisco began to explain his reasons for being here.

"Right, back to business," he said, "now I suppose you will have received a message on Facebook from Tulio telling you of my coming here, right?"

"Yes," said Susan, "And I gave him the address so that you would be able to find us."

"Well it was a bit of a struggle, to be honest," said Francisco, "since London is a massive place, the capital of the UK. I had to spend a couple of days just to adjust to this time zone since we in Brazil are behind you British."

"That's true," said Drake. "Jet lag is often common when you're travelling to an area of the globe with different times.

Francisco nodded. Then he continued, "Yes, and I am amazed at your collection of macaws, along with your unusual cat and greyhound. But the four individuals I have my attention on are those named Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine."

As he finished this sentence he pointed to the four Spix macaws.

"I've seen a picture of them on your message to Tulio," said Francisco.

"That was because I wanted to show you what they looked like," said Susan. "A worded description of them I felt wasn't enough."

"They actually looked quite similar to Blu and Jewel in a photograph on an article about the Spix macaw," said Lucy.

"That's because these four are the same species as them, Lucy," replied Francisco. As he said this, Dash smiled.

"Looks like our suspicion's definitely been confirmed," he said.

"So yes, the Spix macaw, known by its scientific name _Cyanopsitta spixii_, is a critically endangered species of macaw," explained Francisco. "In fact it's on the brink of extinction with only nine individuals currently known. They are Blu, Jewel, their three chicks, and the other four that we recently found."

"I know, we've read about it on the article," said Drake.

"But now that you have let us know that you have four more Spix macaws in your care," added Francisco, "that makes thirteen. And now that I have seen those four macaws myself, what I am planning to do next is bring them to Rio in Brazil, to the Blu Bird Sanctuary, pair them up with the four Spix macaws we recently found and hopefully we'll have four more breeding pairs."

When Cytosine heard this, he raised his head with wide eyes. Adenine, Guanine and Thymine did the same. Sapphire gave a slight smile and whispered to Ruby, "Told you so."

"But haven't those four macaws that you found had any chicks or eggs yet?" asked Jake.

"We waited and waited," said Francisco with a disappointed facial expression, "but we had no luck. It's been days and days since we've found and brought them to the Centro de Conservacao Ambiental Aviary (that's _Centre for Environmental Conservation _in English before you ask) now and it's getting pretty worrying. There has not been any courtship behaviour for quite some time. But now that I have found these four macaws thanks to you, I just hope those four birds over in Brazil will find these four more appealing."

"It's the hardest part in conservation isn't it?" said Lucy, "getting a pair of animals to reproduce."

"We had that same problem when Blu was introduced to the artificial habitat in which Jewel was being held," said Francisco, "but it was only weeks later that they've finally mated and had three eggs. Having had success with that first pair, I just hope for success for these breeding pairs too. That's why Tulio and I want those four birds taken to Brazil as soon as possible."

"I know how urgent you want Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine, Francisco," said Susan, "but we've only just started a degree in ecology. We don't have room for a trip to Brazil..."

"Well, I'll let your lecturers know because we are arranging this trip for you guys," said Francisco, "So you need not worry about those problems. But what you need to be concerned with is getting yourself prepared for the trip, and I'm aiming to bring you over to Rio by the end of this month."

"By the end of this month?" gasped Susan, "That's too short. We might not be ready in time. We need to make sure that our vaccinations are up to date and all that."

"Then I'll make sure that you do," said Francisco, "I know it's quite difficult for you guys but it's very important that your four Spix macaws are taken to Rio; the sooner, the better, or else those four will miss their chance of having chicks. You will only get this opportunity once, Susan, so think carefully."

As Lucy walked round to Susan's side, Guanine and Adenine flew onto her shoulders to Francisco's slight surprise.

"Wow, your four blue macaws can fly despite being domesticated?" he asked.

"Why are you surprised?" asked Susan.

"When Tulio went to see Linda and her pet macaw Blu in Minnesota, the US, Blu did not fly at all," said Francisco. "He told me about that. It was only a few days after their arrival in Rio that Blu took his first flight when he carried Jewel to Tulio, Linda and Fernando when she was injured."

When the pets heard this, they were surprised.

"That blue Spix macaw we saw in that article's photo didn't fly when he went to Rio?" asked Ruby. The other macaws, Veggie and Dash shrugged their shoulders, however.

"Well, I'd say it's a bit unusual for a macaw, even for a pet, to have remain grounded all its life," said Veggie, "all the birds I've met, including you guys, know how to fly."

Then Susan spoke up and said, "Well, at least Linda didn't have to worry about Blu escaping, but back to the subject of taking our macaws to Rio, we will try and be ready for the journey, sir. It's just that it's so sudden that we're a bit shocked."

"I know how stressful and sudden it is for you guys," said Francisco, "but I will do my best to make sure that you are ready on time. As for your other pets, I suggest they get re-homed or they come with us."

When the pets heard this, they were saddened. None of them would like to be re-homed for they were like a family. And Dash and Veggie were very close to Blake and his brothers. Then Susan said, "Alright, we'll see what we can do."

"Then I hope you're ready by the end of this month, you five," said Francisco with a nod, "anyway, if you don't mind, I would like to contact my boss Tulio in Brazil to confirm that you have agreed to take your four Spix macaws to Rio. Mind if I go upstairs to make the call? I'm not going to go out into that pouring rain again."

Susan nodded and with that Francisco left to phone Tulio. As he went upstairs, Drake was in a bit of a shock.

"Well, not only was this situation so sudden," he said, "but it must mean we'll have to release our four blue macaws as well."

"Well, we don't have a choice, Drake," said Lucy, "Since Tulio in Brazil wants Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine so badly; it would mean releasing them into the wild when we get to Brazil."

Then Blake put on a smile on his face.

"Well, I'm going to start getting ready for this trip right away," he said, "I've always wanted to go to Brazil, so let this be the opportunity to do so."

And with that he left to find his suitcase. Jake left to do the same. A while after Drake and Jake left for upstairs, Francisco came back down after speaking with Tulio.

"Boy, it's been quite a struggle to get a good signal in weather like this," he said as he put his phone away, "but I did manage to contact my boss, and he's very happy that you folks have decided to bring your Spix macaws to Rio as he wants them transferred there as soon as possible. So in the meantime, I would like you to get prepared for the trip while I speak to your lecturers about this."

"Yes, Francisco," said Susan, "and thanks for your help in organising the trip. I know how important the Spix macaw project is to you and the others back in Brazil and we are happy to co-operate."

"Thanks," said Francisco with a smile, "and I was about to be off but unfortunately, my coat's too wet from the rain. Do you know how long my coat will be in the dryer?"

"It will be about an hour," answered Blake, "It was sopping wet, so it'll need plenty of time to dry."

So Francisco stayed with Susan, Lucy and their cousins for another hour until Francisco's coat dried. During this time, they had a chat about a number of things. Francisco told Susan and her sister and cousins about his job back in Brazil while Susan talked about her group's aim to become ecologists when they leave university, as well as Blake's interest in making candles, their life including going to church for they were Christians, and so on. Then as soon as the dryer had finished its job, Blake took out Francisco's coat and felt it to see if it was dry. After confirming that it was, he gave it to Francisco who put it on. After this, Francisco was ready to leave.

"I'll ring you five up within a few weeks," he said with a smile, "and let you know that everything's ready, but in the meantime, I hope your studies and preparations go well."

"Here's our number," said Susan as she gave Francisco a card with her mobile number on it. Francisco took it and put it into his pocket.

"Thanks, Susan," he said with a smile. Then as soon as he was ready, he opened the door and prepared to leave.

"And I will see you when we are ready to go to Rio," said Francisco, and with that, he said goodbye and left. The five humans and pets also said goodbye. As soon as he had gone, Susan collapsed on a sofa as everyone else gathered around her. Drake and Jake had already brought their suitcases down in preps for filling them with required things for the trip.

"Well, I think we should start now," said Lucy.

"We'll have to commit this to prayer," said Susan, "there's going to be a lot of preparations to make ahead."

"Yes," said Jake. Blake and Drake nodded in agreement. While they were talking, Cytosine took off his bowtie and began to fiddle with it.

"You know something, Ruby," he said, "I've often wondered where we came from."

Ruby sat beside him and put a wing around Cytosine's back.

"The Spix macaw is endemic to Brazil, Cytosine," she said, "so I'd assume you came from there."

"I think the species of many of us are Brazilian or South American," said Opal, "The only bird that does not originate from the continent is me because I am a hybrid."

"Macaws of two different species don't often breed in the wild," said Jasper, "particularly blue-and-gold and green-winged macaws. The only place they do is in captivity."

"You know something, I'm pretty nervous about this trip," said Adenine, "I just don't know what to expect, what our future mates will be like..."

Sapphire came up and put a wing around his back and said encouragingly, "Well, we'll have to see, Adenine. We're going to come with you to Brazil ourselves. I don't believe this opportunity is to be missed."

"We would love to have some of us find mates, breed and have chicks," said Emerald excitedly.

"And I would also like to meet Blu, Jewel and their chicks face to face," said Guanine.

"So would I," said Thymine agreeing, "We've never seen a Spix macaw chick all our lives until Drake spotted that article, so we would love to meet more of our species."

"So would I," said Sapphire, "I would like to meet other hyacinth macaws and other Brazilian birds."

Emerald, Jasper and Ruby nodded in agreement. Then Dash and Veggie came up.

"Speaking of finding mates and having babies, Blake was at one point on about getting a mate each for me and Veggie because he would like to breed us also," said Dash. "I would love to meet a nice, female greyhound and have a family of cutesy puppies."

"Dogs are alright for companions, but cats," said Veggie, "Many of us are more loners than companions. Far too many of us, for example, wander around in the alleys doing nothing other than look for food."

"Well, only time will tell," said Ruby. "But first, our priority's getting ready for this trip."

And with that the pets dispersed as Susan, Lucy and their cousins began discussing about what they were to do.

Over the next few weeks, Susan, Lucy, Drake, Blake and Jake went shopping and bought a number of items required for the trip. They bought sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, and other items. Also they made sure that their vaccinations were up to date. During this time, Francisco had been speaking with Susan and company's lecturers and let them know that Susan and her sister and cousins are to go to Rio as they have four Spix macaws to give to a protected reserve in Brazil while at the same time, he booked Susan and company's flights and paid for them. Then eventually the time of departure came for Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake and their pets. They and Francisco flew by plane across the Atlantic Ocean from the UK to Brazil, where they touched down in Rio's international airport. After they had disembarked the plane, they were on their way to Centro de Conservacao Ambiental Aviary (or simply Tulio's Aviary) on a hired jeep. Francisco was driving the jeep down the main road by a beach named Copacabana Beach. The pets including Dash and Veggie (who had decided to come with their bird friends to Rio) were in cages in the jeep's trailer. In the driving section of the jeep their owners were admiring the scenery. Lucy was spreading sunscreen on her arms while Drake was blowing cool air into his face.

"Phew, it sure is hot here," he said, "I wonder if it's sunnier than the UK."

"It is at these latitudes," said Francisco, "When it rains, especially in the Amazon rainforest, the downpour can be torrential."

"Do droughts sometimes happen here?" asked Jake.

"Yes, and sometimes they can be severe," said Francisco, "and they are often a problem because water evaporates in drought conditions and secondly, plants can become very dry which makes them easier to catch fire."

Jake looked at him surprised. On the right side of the seats at the back, Blake was admiring Copacabana Beach. On the beach were a large number of people up to a variety of activities. Some were sunbathing, some were playing games such as volleyball while some, and particularly kids were playing and frolicking in the sea. Blake smiled.

"I would like to go visit that beach after we've been to the Blu Bird Sanctuary," he said hopefully.

"We will after we've given your four Spix macaws to the aviary, Blake," said Francisco, "but first we've got to get to Tulio's Aviary. Tulio is waiting for us."

"That's not the main reason why we're here, Blake," added Susan. Blake nodded.

"Sorry," he said, "It's just that I get easily sidetracked by areas that make me want to visit, and beaches are one of them."

Then Drake noticed some people on the other side of the road dressed in brightly coloured costumes dancing and performing.

"Why are those people over there dancing?" he asked.

"They're rehearsing for Carnival," replied Francisco, "It's near Carnival time so they're just practicing for it."

"Carnival?" repeated Susan, "That's said to be the largest parade in the world, isn't it?"

"It sure is," said Francisco with a smile, "it's an awesome sight, honestly. People dress in a variety of animal and fruit costumes and they dance, basically. I've been to the parade several times before."

"Really," said Susan with a smile. "And they have such a parade every year?"

"Yes," said Francisco, "It's every Brazilian summer that they do."

Susan and Lucy smiled at this. In the trailer, the pets were also admiring the scenery. Cytosine was enjoying the fresh air in his feathers while Guanine and Adenine were looking up into the sky. It was a cloudless blue sky and the sun was beaming down. Emerald, Jasper, Sapphire, Ruby, Opal and Thymine were also admiring the sights of the Brazilian city while Veggie and Dash's eyes were on several birds as they flew in the sky.

"I wonder if the Amazon is like the Great Barrier Reef in some way," said Veggie, "with all the colourful and diverse wildlife."

"The rainforest is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world," said Sapphire, "so I should imagine the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is similar."

"That large reef ecosystem has aquatic animals," said Ruby, "but the Amazon Rainforest has birds and other forest dwelling animals."

"Mind you that place would be worth a visit for our owners since they are doing an ecology degree," said Adenine, "I would love them to visit the rainforest one day."

"If they get the chance," said Emerald. On the other side of the cage, Jasper heard some singing in Brazilian Portuguese coming from nearby. At this, he looked up and saw a fat red crested cardinal and a yellow canary with a bottle cap on its head singing and dancing on the roof of the jeep in which the pets' owners were sitting. Cytosine, Thymine and Opal came beside Jasper and looked up at them, smiling.

"Do you have any idea of what those two small birds are saying?" asked Thymine. Jasper shook his head.

"Portuguese is not our first language, I'm afraid," he replied. Then Opal said to the canary and cardinal, "Excuse me, you two, do you speak English?"

Then the canary and cardinal fluttered to the cage and touched down in front of the four birds, continuously speaking Brazilian Portuguese. Finally the cardinal spoke in English.

"Of course we can speak English," it said in a cheeky, funky tone of voice. Opal smiled amused. Then the bottle cap wearing canary saw Cytosine and Thymine and was surprised.

"Wait a minute, Pedro," it said, "Have Blu and his girl Jewel returned to being domesticated? I thought dey were livin' in da rainforest raisin' their three lickle chicks."

"Sorry?" said Cytosine in wonder.

"Er... we're not Blu and Jewel, you two," replied Thymine. Then the cardinal looked closely at Thymine and Cytosine and said, "Wait, Nico, these blue birds definitely ain't Blu and Jewel. Jewel's feathers aren't as bright as dis birdy's."

Thymine shook her head slightly offended at this remark. The canary, who was a male name was Nico, then shook his head in shock.

"What? Are these two Spix macaws as well?" he gasped, "I thought Blu, Jewel and their three chicks Carla, Bia and Tiago were the last blue macaws."

"So did I, Nico," said the cardinal, whose name was Pedro, "but it seems dat there may be other blue macaws like dem around after all."

Then Nico began to engage Cytosine and Thymine in conversation.

"So, you two, are you boyfriend and girlfriend?" he asked slightly cheekily.

"What?" squawked Thymine in disgust. Then Emerald spoke up before Thymine could snap back at the canary.

"No, they aren't," he said calmly, "they're brother and sister."

"And speaking of Spix macaws," added Opal, "there are two others with us in the same cage, but they are also the brother and sister of these two."

Then Nico flew back a few inches and gaped with beak wide open.

"So there are FOUR blue macaws here?" he exclaimed. At this moment Cytosine and Thymine's older brother and sister, Adenine and Thymine, came and stood beside Emerald and Opal. Pedro raised an eyebrow.

"Blu and Jewel are gonna be seriously shocked when they see you four," he said.

"You'll be further surprised but some humans have recently discovered four more Spix macaws," said Opal, "They're at the aviary."

"Really?" asked Pedro, "So eight more have been found?"

"Guess so," said Guanine. Then Nico began to examine the birds closely as Ruby, Sapphire and Jasper walked in to see who Emerald, Opal and the Spix macaws were talking to. Nico recognised Ruby, Jasper and Emerald's species but was amazed at Sapphire's size.

"Wow, that's one big birdy you've got, friends," said Pedro.

"It's a hyacinth macaw thing," replied Sapphire, "my species is one of the largest species of macaw known."

Then Nico looked closely at Opal and said, "I've never seen a macaw like you before."

"My species isn't found in nature," said Opal, "I'm a cross between a blue-and–gold and a green-winged."

"Interestin'," said Nico with a fascinated smile. Then he and Pedro moved onto another subject.

"So, you birdies here for Carnival?" asked Pedro, "I can see your colourful friend with the brill red-orange front would make a great dancer for it."

"It may seem like we're here for Carnival but that's not the reason," replied Opal.

"Then what are ya here for?" said Pedro with a wide smile.

"We're on our way to meet the four macaws Opal mentioned a minute ago," said Cytosine, "They are two males and two females like us."

"In other words we're going to erm... be paired up with those four macaws," added Thymine quite shyly. When Nico heard this, he was fascinated.

"Really, bright blue chick?" he said cheekily.

"Wait a minute, this reminds me of when Blu was on his way to meet Jewel about a year ago," said Pedro, "and we gave him advice on how to court girlies."

"So do you mind if we advise you on how to attract girlies, you two?" Nico asked Cytosine and Adenine.

"Er... we're alright, thanks," replied Adenine slightly uncomfortably.

"Okay, we just only wanted to help ya, that's all," replied Nico with a smile. "But lemme give ya a hint. Brazilian ladies respond to confidence."

"Confidence?" asked Cytosine, "How's that supposed to woo a female?"

"Ah, it's about swagger, m'lad," said Pedro cheekily, "Ya gotta show 'em that ya confident..."

"Look, we said we don't need any advice," said Adenine slightly sharply, "thanks but I don't really feel comfortable at the moment, okay?"

"Okay, m'lad," said Nico with a smile on his beak. Then he turned to Ruby, Sapphire, Jasper, Emerald and Opal and said, "Are you five also here to meet a girl or boy too?"

"No, we're only here to accompany them," replied Ruby. Suddenly Dash and Veggie came up.

"Who are you guys talking to?" asked Veggie. When Nico and Pedro saw Veggie, they screamed and backed away.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down! he's harmless!" cried Ruby. But Nico and Pedro still backed away and shivered.

"But have you seen the claws on that thing?" squawked Nico in shock, "Look at it! It's got teeth and claws. It's one of those pesky furballs that turns us birds into dinner!"

"Those furballs belong to places like alleyways and people's homes," added Pedro. Veggie only smiled.

"It's true that we cats would eat you birds," he said, "but that's not true of all, and I'm one of them. I'm completely vegetarian."

"B-but cats are carnivorous animals," said Pedro.

"It's true but not before Adam's sin against God," said Veggie, "before then, all animals including cats were vegetarian..."

But Nico and Pedro did not understand what Veggie was talking about. Then Dash said, "It's what we believe in, you two. So yes, Veggie here is completely bird friendly. He hasn't eaten a bird in his life."

"Then he's quite an unusual cat," said Nico in shock, "For every cat we've come across, they've tried to pounce on us."

Then Pedro felt it was time to go.

"Anyway," he said, "It's time we were off. Our club's in need of sme preparation for tonight's party. It's nice to meet ya, you lot, especially your unusual kitty cat."

And with that he took to the sky. Nico followed him but not before saying to Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine, "and remember, blue birdies, in courtship, confidence is an important thing to show. See ya."

As the 11 pets saw the canary and cardinal fly away, Cytosine raised an eyebrow.

"Important thing to show?" he asked.

"I don't know," replied Ruby, "It must be a matter of opinion of theirs, I suppose."

Then later, Francisco drove the jeep through a corridor of trees towards Tulio's Aviary. As soon as Francisco had parked the jeep in a parking space (or parking lot as it is known in America), he, Susan, Lucy, Drake, Blake and Jake all got out of the vehicle. They then went to the trailer and picked up the cages containing the birds. Drake also opened the cage Veggie and Dash were in and they jumped out to stretch their legs. Then the group headed for the entrance to Tulio's Aviary. However at the entrance, Francisco told Susan and company that Veggie was not allowed in the building as he may unintentionally cause chaos by frightening the birds, much to Veggie's chagrin and disappointment. So Dash decided to wait outside with Veggie while the rest of the group went inside. Once inside, Francisco was greeted by Tulio who shook hands with him. Francisco then introduced Tulio to Susan, Lucy, Drake, Blake and Jake and they each shook hands with the head ornithologist. Tulio also looked closely and admired their collection of macaws, including the four Spix macaws. Then Tulio led the group into the aviary's main medical room.

"This room," explained Francisco, "is part of the main backbone of our project."

"Is it?" said Susan as she looked around at the variety of birds in the room.

"Yes," said Tulio, "It's where we nurse injured and sick birds, particularly rare birds, back to health. It's also where we bring in birds that have been captured by smugglers."

"Smugglers?" asked Drake.

"Oh, I know all about that illegal business," said Lucy, "It's where birds or any other animal are caught and taken out of a country isn't it?"

"Precisely, Lucy," said Francisco, "and it's part of our job that any bird rescued from the hands of those criminals are nursed back to health."

"Smugglers often don't care about the health and wellbeing of the animals they are smuggling, don't they?" said Jake.

"That's right, Jake," said Francisco, "All they care about is money."

As they walked towards the centre of the room, a swarm of birds flew towards Tulio and perched on his shoulders, head and arms. Francisco laughed as Tulio posed like a scarecrow with all the birds on his shoulders, arms and head. Susan, Lucy and their cousins also tittered.

"Looks like you've got a lot of feathered fans, doctor," said Susan.

"It's true," said Francisco, "A lot of the birds here adore Tulio. Don't they?"

"Absolutely," replied Tulio. Then the birds flew off his body and dispersed in different directions and Francisco introduced the five owners to a new security system installed since the theft involving Blu and Jewel.

"These," he said as he pointed to a laser light, "are our new security system. We have had lasers and detectors installed since the theft of Blu and Jewel months ago."

Susan, Lucy and their cousins admired the technology.

"Wow," said Lucy, "so those lasers would set off the alarm if a thief were to make the wrong move and place, say, a foot in the red beam?"

"Exactly," replied Francisco, "and we also have breath detectors designed to detect the carbon dioxide in a daring thief's breath."

"That blue macaw Blu was a pet of Linda's, wasn't he?" asked Jake.

"Yes," replied Tulio with a smile, "He was one of the two blue macaws stolen those months ago."

"Is Linda still here?" asked Blake.

"She's my wife," said Tulio proudly. "We got married just after Jewel had laid her eggs."

"Congratulations!" cried Susan ecstatically.

"So, where are Blu, Jewel and their chicks now?" asked Lucy.

"They're outside in the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Tulio. "Linda and my adoptive son Fernando is keeping a close watch on them, making sure they are alright."

"So you've successfully managed to get the first pair of Spix macaws into reproducing?" asked Drake. Tulio nodded and said, "Yes, and now I'm hoping we could get these four birds of yours having chicks as well so that Blu and Jewel's chicks can have mates in the future."

"So where are you holding the four birds our macaws Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine are to meet?" Lucy asked. Francisco turned round and smiled.

"They're in the same area Jewel was held while awaiting the arrival of Blu, Lucy," he replied. "As I've said before, they have not mated and had any eggs, so I'm hoping that these four birds will court the four in the artificial habitat and breed like Blu and Jewel did."

Susan smiled and said, "Do they have names?"

"Yes," said Tulio, "The two males are called Zephyr and Cobalt while the two females are called Madison and Breezy. Cobalt was easily handled but the other three were extremely aggressive much like Jewel was. One of them, Zephyr, actually managed to claw and scratch Francisco when he tried to restrain him."

"That macaw was even worse than Jewel, honestly," muttered Francisco as he showed Susan and company some scars on his lower arms, "he was downright vicious and was the most aggressive of the four we caught."

When Cytosine heard this, he was unnerved. Guanine, Adenine and Thymine were the same. The four Spix macaws then cawed in nervousness. Emerald, Opal, Jasper, Ruby and Sapphire tried to comfort them.

Francisco looked at the four macaws sympathetically and smiled.

"Oh, don't worry, you four," he said, "We'll help you court them."

Then Tulio told Susan, "I'm afraid those decorations on your four macaws are going to have to be removed."

"But Tulio," said Susan, "They love their attire. Please, can we leave them on?"

"Okay," said Tulio reluctantly, "but as long as it doesn't interfere with the courtship process."

Then the next minute Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine knew, they were shoved through a metal door one by one into the artificial habitat. The metal door was closed behind Adenine as he was pushed in after his sisters and brother. Much like Blu when he was shoved into this habitat (which he called a 'cage'), the four macaws began to panic and squawk. Susan, Lucy, Francisco and Tulio were watching this action from a hidden camera. Outside, Drake, Blake and Jake had released Ruby, Opal, Jasper, Sapphire and Emerald so that they could stretch their wings and meet the other birds. Back in the artificial habitat, Lucy was concerned for the four Spix macaws.

"Really, Tulio, I don't think this is a good idea," she said.

"Look," replied Tulio, "Just give them a chance to meet their future mates."

Then he nodded to Francisco to turn on the lights. Francisco did so and pressed a switch. The four macaws jumped as the lights were turned on. Then the four macaws began to nervously walk about the artificial habitat. Thymine was in awe of the manmade stream and fake plants and began to admire some flowers while Cytosine looked up at the sky blue painted ceiling. Suddenly a brief memory flashed in his mind but he brushed it off. Cytosine then walked further into the habitat, calling, "Hello! Is anyone there?"

As he walked in one direction, Adenine and Guanine dispersed in two more directions, nervously looking around at the plants and stream. Behind the other there macaws, Thymine was examining some artificial flowers placed on the ground when a blue blur shot past behind her. Thymine jumped and looked behind her but found nothing there. She froze in fear.

"Er... Cytosine?" she nervously said, "W-was that you?"

She turned in Cytosine's direction and found him there. Then another _whoosh_ sounded. Adenine was walking towards a bush, nervously looking around while Guanine was looking up some trees. She too began to have brief flashbacks of memories but they were only so brief that Guanine couldn't focus on them well. Meanwhile, Thymine was nervously looking around having heard a third _whoosh_. Behind her, a blue bird was looking down at her from a tree. Thymine then heard a rustling behind her. At this she turned round but only saw the leaves shake slightly. Then Thymine began to nervously scan the place when suddenly her gaze caught a blue macaw flying towards her from one of the lights. Thymine went bug-eyed as she was mesmerised by the bird flying towards her. The bird had blue feathers like Cytosine but unlike Cytosine the macaw had a blue-white head, green eyes, and a tuft of feathers just above its beak. Thymine obviously knew this wasn't Cytosine based on these features.

"Woooow!" she cawed in awe, "He's so handsome..."

The bird continued flying towards her. Thymine continued to gaze upon the macaw until she snapped out of her trance and jumped out of the way, just as the macaw was seconds from colliding with her. The macaw then changed direction and pounced onto Thymine, pinning her against a tree trunk with suspicious green eyes.

"Pare, que vai lá!? (Stop, who goes there)?" the macaw squawked loudly. Thymine tried to speak but was gagged so tightly that she couldn't get the words out. Suddenly an azure blue blur appeared and tackled the blue macaw into releasing Thymine. The blue macaw was thrown back in shock. Thymine then took a deep breath as Guanine (who had tackled the blue macaw), stared at the macaw with angry, green eyes of her own.

"Don't you dare attack my younger sister like that!" Guanine rebuked the macaw. The macaw jumped up and hissed loudly into Guanine's face. Guanine returned the hiss. Then the macaw, which was a male, calmed down and held up a wing.

"Let's not get into a fight, shall we," he said causally. Guanine just stared at him angrily just as Thymine came up.

"How dare you attack a lady like that," said Thymine angrily. Then the macaw began to inspect her and Guanine closely.

"Wait, are you blue macaws like us?" he said, "You have the same beak colour and shape... and facial marking colours..."

"Of course we're blue macaws like you," said Guanine irritably, "Isn't it obvious?"

"Us?" inquired Thymine. The macaw then looked up at the two sisters.

"There's four of us in here," he said, "There's my sister Breezy, one called Cobalt and the other female called Madison. We've been held in this miserable place for days and we've been trying to find a way out."

"So you're Zephyr?" asked Thymine. The macaw jerked up in surprise.

"How did you know my name?" he asked shocked.

"We heard about you before we were placed in here," said Guanine. Then Thymine began to introduce herself.

"My name's Thymine, Zephyr," she said, "and this is Guanine."

Zephyr just looked at the sisters with narrowed eyes.

"Bizarre names for macaws, don't you think?" he growled slightly.

"We're named after two of the four bases in DNA," said Thymine.

"What's DNA?" asked Zephyr.

"It's hard to explain," said Guanine. Zephyr gave a sigh and then began to call for Breezy.

"Breezy," he called, "It's okay. They're harmless."

Suddenly there was a squawking sound as Cytosine flew from a light blue macaw chasing him. This macaw had a blue-white head like Zephyr, but her crest and body feathers were cerulean and her crest was longer, flowing right over her crown. She had lime green eyes, lighter than Zephyr's. She had been spying on Cytosine walking around and had begun to chase him. Then Cytosine flew towards Zephyr, Guanine and Thymine and screeched to a stop. The macaw chasing him, named Breezy, did the same.

"Looks like we've got some newcomers here, bro," said Breezy with suspicious eyes on Cytosine. I thought this guy here was you but he had blue eyes and blue-white patches around his eyes only and this blue thing around his neck."

At this she tugged at Cytosine's bowtie. Cytosine pulled it away.

"Now where are Cobalt and Madison?" asked Zephyr as he looked around. Meanwhile, Adenine was looking around some bushes when suddenly he spotted a dark blue macaw around the corner. This macaw had dark blue feathers, slightly darker than Cytosine's. Its eyes were a brilliant yellow-green, almost chartreuse, but the most stunning feature of this macaw was its set of head feathers. Adenine had never seen a macaw with such head feathers. These feathers were very long and thin and they flowed down the sides and back of the macaw's head to half way down its back, and whenever the macaw waved its head, the feathers swayed and swished like a woman's hair. The bluie-white facial markings were quite different also. They started at the macaw's eyes and merged into the blue down its neck. Adenine was mesmerised by the macaw's beauty. He had never seen a macaw this beautiful in his life. Then he found the courage to speak.

"Er... hello?" he shyly said. The macaw stopped and gasped in shock, staring at Adenine wide-eyed.

"S-sorry," said Adenine, "I didn't mean to scare you..."

But before he could finish, the blue macaw, which was a female, took off. Adenine called, "Hey, I only said 'I'm sorry'!"

And with that he took off after her. At this moment, Guanine had found another dark blue macaw hiding in another bush after seeing some violet eyes watching her, Breezy, Cytosine, Zephyr and Thymine. This macaw was a tall male and had blue feathers that neared the shade of cobalt blue. His eyes were violet and his crest was a short cowlick sticking up. The macaw also had some curly feathers at the very base of his head. His blue-white facial features partly surrounded his eyes and beak and converged towards each other below his beak but did not meet. This macaw was quite shy and timid.

"Er... hi, miss," said the macaw shyly, "I-I'm Cobalt. I presume you've been put in here by those humans outside, have you?"

"Er... yes," said Guanine. Just then Zephyr came up beside her and said, "He's quite shy. Don't be surprised if he struggles to talk with you."

Then Cobalt came out of the bushes and gave a sigh. He was quite a tall macaw, slightly taller than Guanine, Zephyr and Adenine and was probably taller than Blu also. Although he was timid, he was also friendly and quite bold, and has a very dark secret that has yet to come to light. Just after Cobalt had stepped out from the bush, the long feathered blue macaw and Adenine suddenly swooped down and landed just before the other six. The long feathered macaw was named Madison and she had a tragic past. Then as soon as all eight macaws met, Cytosine began to introduce himself and his siblings to Zephyr, Cobalt, Madison and Breezy. Cobalt was pleased to meet the four siblings but Zephyr, Breezy and Madison were less pleased.

"Shouldn't we be focussing on what we've got to do, Zephyr?" asked Madison.

"Of course," said Zephyr, "I forgot."

Then he turned to Cytosine and his siblings and said, "We're trying to escape from here, you four, if you would like to come with us."

And with that, Zephyr took off toward a tree, followed by Cobalt, Breezy and Madison. Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine looked at each other and took off after the four macaws in curiosity. As soon as they had landed on a tree Zephyr had flown to, Zephyr appeared.

"This is the route we are trying to escape through," he said and walked off. Cytosine and his siblings then began to discuss among themselves.

"We're here to breed aren't we?" Adenine asked.

"How will those four react if we tell them that?" asked Guanine. Cytosine thought and gulped.

"Should we tell them?" asked Thymine. Just then Madison asked, "What's up you four?"

At this, the four siblings looked up at her and Cobalt.

"Er... erm, we were only discussing how... erm..." muttered Cytosine.

"How to escape?" said Cobalt, "Good."

"But are we supposed to... you know..." began Adenine. At this, Guanine and Thymine gasped while Madison and Cobalt opened their beaks in awful shock. Then Zephyr appeared and said, "What are you talking about, you four?"

"Oh, I know where you're getting to," said Cobalt in disgust. Then Madison lost her temper.

"Are you meaning that we're here to mate and HAVE CHICKS!?" she squawked. When Breezy heard this, she whipped up and gasped.

"HOW DARE YOU!" squawked Zephyr at the top of his voice, lunging at Cytosine.

"No, I didn't..." shouted Cytosine as he and his siblings backed away from Madison and Zephyr. From the hidden camera, Susan, Lucy, Tulio and Francisco gasped at Zephyr and Madison's behaviour towards Cytosine and his siblings.

"Has this happened before?" asked Susan.

"Yes," said Tulio, "This sort of problem occurred with Blu and Jewel. Don't worry, I have an idea. Francisco..."

Francisco nodded and placed a hand on a lever. Back in the habitat, Cytosine was protesting and struggling to find words.

"I-I-I'm sorry to upset you Zephyr but I think th-th-that's why we're here," he said timidly.

"Huh, we had to face that when we were caught and placed here," said Cobalt angrily, "that what so enrages me!"

Then Madison was about to pounce on Cytosine when suddenly the lights changed, a mirror ball came down and Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will Go On' began to play. Cytosine was shocked at the sudden change of atmosphere.

"Okay, now suddenly this song comes on," he said confused. Then Adenine began to get mesmerised at the music.

"But it's soooo romantic," he cooed. Guanine and Thymine were also mesmerised at the music. Cobalt, Zephyr and Madison, however, only glared at them. Breezy came up and did the same as Adenine began to sing along the song. Thymine was wary and said to Adenine, "Er... Adenine..."

"Oooh, you've certainly done a good job performing this romantic love song, Celine," said Adenine. Suddenly Madison jumped on him and began to throttle him. Guanine, Thymine and Cytosine dived out of the way in time. Then Zephyr shot in and tackled Thymine, stunning her. Then Zephyr began to furiously chase her around the habitat. Cytosine looked on in shock when Breezy pounced on him and began to attack him. When Guanine saw what was going on, she retreated into a nearby bush while Cobalt took cover in a tree. From the hidden camera, Susan and Lucy were in shock.

"Looks like that theme song from _Titanic _did the trick," said Susan as she saw Madison and Adenine struggling in the vegetation. Then Francisco smiled and leaned back.

"It was my idea," he said proudly, "I thought it would have a better effect than Lionel Richie's 'Say You, Say Me'."

"I played that to help Blu and Jewel but it turns out it didn't work," said Tulio. Then Francisco said, "But let's leave those macaws and check back on them later."

Then Susan, Lucy, Tulio and Francisco left the room. Tulio then decided to head off to see Linda.

"And I will be checking on Linda and Fernando to see how they are doing," he said. With that he left just as Susan and Lucy's triplet cousins came up.

"How did it go?" asked Drake.

"Alright," said Francisco, "But we're going to check back on them later. Anyway, let's go out into Rio and do some sightseeing."

When Blake heard this, he jumped up in excitement. Jake then said, "Will our birds be alright while we're gone?"

"Of course they will," said Francisco with a smile.

"They've got quite advanced technology installed," said Susan, "So it should be difficult for a thief to get in and steal anything."

At this, Jake smiled. Then the six humans left for the jeep. Ruby saw them leave as Opal came up beside her.

"I wonder how Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine are doing with their new future mates?" Opal asked Ruby. Back in the artificial habitat, Zephyr was continuously chasing Thymine around, squawking and attacking her while Madison was fiercely attacking Adenine and Breezy was attacking Cytosine. Guanine and Cobalt remained hidden and watched the action, too frightened to do anything. What Cytosine and his siblings were going through was similar to Blu when he first met Jewel and she fiercely attacked him.

**Right, that's it for chapter 4. Next in chapter 5, tragedy strikes!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5- a second theft incident at Tulio's Aviary**

Soon, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake had exited the aviary with Francisco. On the way out, Blake and Drake had given Veggie and Dash their dinner and told them that they were going to go sightseeing around the Brazilian city, as the cat and dog have decided to stay at the entrance until the owners come back. After this, Susan and her sister and cousins got into the jeep with Francisco and they drove off back into the city. It was getting close to evening and Dash and Veggie were eating their meal. The Aviary was shutting down as employees were leaving for their homes after a hard day's work while the guards to be on night duty were setting up the recently installed security technology. While all this was happening, Veggie was still disappointed at not being allowed into the Aviary.

"Boy, Dash," he muttered, "I still can't believe Francisco and Tulio wouldn't allow me into the Aviary. You know I would never harm a bird and haven't done so in my life?"

"That's true," replied Dash, "But you'd still frighten the birds because in their instinct, you cats are their natural enemy and predator and they will try and fly away from you, and that would cause chaos, which is something Tulio would not want, especially with injured birds on the road to recovery."

"That's true," said Veggie finally accepting why Francisco and Tulio barred his entry. "But before Adam sinned against God, cats and birds lived in harmony together because everything ate only plants and fruit."

"Yes," said Dash, "But we live in the times after Adam sinned against God and some animals became carnivorous. Since then, cats and birds became natural enemies and very rarely live together. You're one of those rare exceptions."

Veggie smiled at Dash and ate another peach from his bowl.

"I wonder how Cytosine and his siblings are doing with their newfound future mates," he said, "I know how much emphasis Francisco puts on their reproduction but sometimes things don't go ahead as planned."

"That's true," said Dash. Then the cat and greyhound continued eating their dinner. By the time they had finished, it was approaching evening, when Veggie looked up and saw something approach the aviary. He alerted Dash by tapping his shoulder.

"Dash!" he whispered. Dash looked up and saw something covered by a large black cloak approach where they were sitting. At this, Dash and Veggie grabbed their bowls and dived behind one of the parked cars. Then they looked out to observe the thing covered by the cloak. They saw feet below the cloak as the something stopped in front of the door. Veggie began to sense something not right about what was under the cloak.

"Something's suspicious," he whispered.

"I hope it's not a group of troublemakers," said Dash, "Tulio would seriously get them prosecuted if they were."

Then Veggie saw something metallic on the floor beside what looked like a pair of a person's feet. At this he went agape as whoever under the cloak sent something into the Aviary though an air vent...

Back in the medical room, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal and Jasper were still talking away with the birds while the nightshift guards were checking everything in the room.

"So what happened when you were captured last time?" Ruby asked another green-winged macaw.

"Well, we were picked on and abused by another parrot," replied the macaw whose wing was bandaged and still healing after an accident.

"What sort of a parrot?" asked Emerald.

"It was a white feathered parrot with a yellowish crest," replied the macaw, "and honestly, he was evil and ruthless. Some of us have suffered permanent scars from his abuse."

Then a green Amazon parrot came up and added, "A military macaw being one of them."

When Ruby and Emerald heard this, they were shocked.

"From the description of that parrot," said Emerald, "It sounds like a cockatoo."

"It was," said a nearby yellow parakeet, "His name was Nigel, and he caused a lot of us damage."

"You honestly don't want to meet that sulfur crested vulture, Ruby," put in the green-winged macaw with an angry face, "He's a horrible bundle of muscle and feathers. I heard he severely injured a blue macaw before by breaking her wing."

"Eek," shivered Ruby at the thought, "absolutely not."

"Who was the blue macaw he injured?" asked Emerald. The green-winged macaw shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't remember, to be honest," he said. Elsewhere, Sapphire, Opal and Jasper were talking with some more macaws and toucans. One emerald toucanet was amazed at Opal's 'species'.

"We've never seen a macaw like you before," she said, "Are you another species?"

"No, I'm a cross between two species," replied Opal, "A blue-and-gold and a green-winged."

"Interesting," said a blue throated macaw, "A male and a female from two separate species very rarely breed together but perhaps not very different species."

"Are there any hyacinth macaws in the area?" asked Sapphire.

"Not as far as we know," replied the emerald toucanet, "the only all-blue macaw we know of is the Spix macaw. There are only five of them living in this area."

"There are now thirteen," said Jasper with a smile, "There's another eight in that habitat over there."

"Thirteen Spix macaws?" asked the blue-throated macaw, "I thought there were only five: Blu, Jewel and their three chicks. I guess there could be more Spix macaws out there after all."

"There may be more on the way if those eight macaws in there pair up and have chicks," said Sapphire, nodding in the direction of the habitat, "Blu and Jewel would be pleased to see more Spix macaw offspring."

While she was saying this, one of the guards walked past and through the door, a suspicious look on his face. Sapphire and Ruby flew after him to see what he apparently saw. Jasper, Emerald and Opal looked at each other, feeling something not right. Then Opal looked up and saw a shadow of a four legged creature on a wall...

Back in the manmade habitat, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine and Adenine were resting after hectically avoiding the wrath of Zephyr, Breezy and Madison. Cobalt, the other macaw, had not been chasing the four macaws around but watched timidly from one of the trees. Cytosine was lying on his stomach at the foot of a tree, gasping and out of breath. As he did that, images flashed in his mind, one of which was a blue macaw lying at the foot of a tree. However, they were so brief that Cytosine could not make out what these memories were. Around him Thymine, Adenine and Guanine were resting with their backs against another tree, also gasping. Nearby, Zephyr was struggling against some metal bars covering a hole in a wall.

"How's it going, Zephyr?" Cobalt asked. Zephyr just let loose a growl and kicked the bars.

"It's held fast to the wall," he muttered, "It won't budge."

"Then we'll never get out," moaned Breezy. Zephyr gave a sigh and sat down with Breezy, Madison and Cobalt. As they did that, Cytosine got up and walked over to them. Breezy eyed him with hostility.

"What do you want?" she growled. Zephyr and Madison also shot Cytosine with mean looks. Cobalt, however, was more sympathetic.

"Why are you four so desperate to get out of this habitat?" asked Cytosine. At this question, Madison let loose a laugh of mockery.

"'Why are we so desperate to get out of this habitat'," she mockingly squeaked, repeating Cytosine's question. Cytosine shook his head in disgust as Adenine walked up.

"He's only asking you a question," he said firmly. Then Zephyr walked up to them with a scowl on his face.

"It seems that you lowly domesticated pets don't understand what those miserable two-legged menaces have put us through," he said with a hint of a condescending attitude in his voice.

"Lowly domesticated pets?" gasped Adenine in shock. Then Cobalt walked up to Zephyr and rebuked him.

"Hey, don't call them lowly domesticated pets, Zephyr," he said boldly, "Just because they're pets doesn't mean they're inferior."

At this, Breezy gave a laugh of mockery.

"Yeah, right, Cobalt," she said, "Well pets don't know anything about our place on this earth. They think we're made to be owned by humans when in fact we're made to be wild."

"Born to be wild, that is," added Madison with a rising of her beak and narrowing of her eyes in a mocking manner. Then she gave Cytosine and his siblings an awful facial expression full of contempt and spite. Guanine shook her head in disgust at Madison's attitude.

"Despite her beautiful appearance," she said under her breath, "her attitude's awful."

"It's true that God created us to be wild but some of us are also at times kept as pets," explained Thymine boldly, "but regardless of whether we are owned by humans or wild, humans are responsible for looking after..."

At this Zephyr burst out laughing. Madison and Breezy did the same. However, Cobalt remained deadpan.

"Oh really?" growled Zephyr in a scornful and mocking tone of voice, "You think all humans are kind and caring? Let me tell ya something, Tyler..."

"Thymine," corrected Thymine.

"Whatever," said Zephyr mockingly. Then he called Breezy over and continued, "Breezy and I come from the Amazon rainforest."

"Do you?" Cytosine said elated with excitement.

"Yes," replied Zephyr, "We lived in a large flock of Spix macaws. We were often bothered by humans either through poaching or loss of habitat by loggers."

Then Breezy began to make hiccup-like noises as she began to speak, and her voice sounded on edge, typical of someone upset.

"They caused us and other animals a lot of trouble by taking away our habitat and cutting down trees," she said, "but the worst disaster they caused was a large fire that separated me, my brother Zephyr and our parents from the rest of the tribe, and we were left all alone. We didn't want to go back to the Amazon as the rest of the Spix macaw flock likely died in the inferno... sob, sob."

And with that she covered her face with her wings and began to cry. Zephyr continued for her.

"That happened when we were chicks," he said, "we were forced to live somewhere else, so we moved to roughly around here and lived here for the next few years, and then one day... you can tell what happened next, didn't you?"

"Smugglers?" answered Cytosine.

"Yes," snapped Zephyr, "smugglers came and captured many birds and other animals. The chaos tore me and Breezy from our parents and after the chaos had subsided, we never found our parents again. I was forced to fend for myself and Breezy years after that. That's why we despise humans and that's why we wanna get outa here and return to the wild. Does that clear things up now, pet?"

Cytosine frowned at Zephyr's lack of manners and reluctantly nodded. Thymine tried to sympathise with Zephyr but Zephyr brushed it off as he left to comfort Breezy.

"I don't your sympathy, Tyler," snapped Zephyr and with that he and Breezy walked away. Thymine was disgusted at Zephyr's repeated miscalling of her name.

"My name is Thymine, Zephyr," she snapped, "Get it? Thie-meeen!"

Then Madison came up and gave Thymine, Cytosine, Adenine and Guanine each a scowl like a bully or stuck up brat looking down on others.

"I also came from the Amazon," she said, "I was living with my family. We were only chicks at the time but one day, some of us wandered away from that family as we found something curious. We were too naive to realise it was a trap until too late, and we were caught in a net. Our parents tried to rescue us but some humans came and took us away. Then later, from what I can remember..."

With that, Madison closed her eyes to think.

"...we were caged and taken to a city to be sold as pets," she said with her eyes shut, "a cousin of mine was taken away but I managed to escape. It was a terrible time honestly..."

Then she began to shiver and continued, "...we were constantly picked on by a large white bird with a yellow crest. It was a parrot of some sort..."

When Cobalt heard Madison mention this, he began to quiver and whimper.

"Why is Cobalt shaking like that?" asked Guanine.

"He's probably faced that same bird as well," said Madison, "every time that bird gets mentioned, he gets the creeps."

"His name was Nigel," said Cobalt, "You don't want to meet him honestly. He's a horrible piece of work who loathes exotic birds."

As Cobalt mentioned Nigel, Cytosine gasped as a memory of a white bird flashed in his head. However he brushed it off. Then Zephyr and Breezy came back.

"Nigel?" Zephyr gasped, "I've heard about that cockatoo before."

"You've met him too?" asked Madison. As she said this, a door opened. Zephyr looked in the direction of the door.

"What?" he said and flew off to investigate. Breezy, Madison and Cobalt followed. Cytosine gave a sigh as they left.

"Zephyr certainly is hostile, isn't he?" he said to his sisters and brother.

"Not to mention Madison and Breezy's attitude," added Guanine. Suddenly four yelps were heard. The four macaws jumped to their feet.

"Zephyr?" asked Cytosine, "Zephyr?"

As he walked backwards and turned round, he saw some mean eyes fixed on his from under a bush. Cytosine shook his head in annoyance.

"Honestly, Veggie," he said to the eyes, "You're not supposed to be in here. Remember what Tulio and Francisco said before we went inside."

As he finished this sentence, he was suddenly pounced upon by a cat (who was not Veggie). The cat then grabbed Cytosine by the neck and carried him off to two humans who had three cages. Guanine, Adenine and Thymine were also pounced on by some more cats and dragged off towards the humans as well...

Meanwhile, Francisco, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were returning to the Aviary after a session of sightseeing around some of Rio. Lucy was saddened that they will have to let their beloved four macaws go.

"Will we have to release our four blue macaws, Francisco?" asked Lucy in a sad tone of voice.

"I'm afraid you will have to, Lucy," replied Francisco as he concentrated on the road. When Lucy heard this, she was even more saddened.

"You don't have a choice, Lucy," added Francisco, "Those four birds of yours a invaluable to us since they are of a species precariously close to extinction."

"You're expecting them to have mated with the other four macaws you had and will have laid their eggs by now, aren't you?" asked Drake. Francisco nodded but didn't take his eyes off the road.

"I hope they had," said Francisco, "because we can't afford waiting for a long time and expecting no eggs and chicks. It's vitally important that they do breed because one, it's to increase the population of the Spix macaw here and two, Blu and Jewel's chicks will have future mates."

Drake gave a sigh at this when suddenly Francisco's mobile phone began to ring. At this, Francisco muttered as he began to find a parking space. Talking on a mobile phone while driving was extremely dangerous as it easily shifts the driver's conversation from the road. Francisco finally found a space on the side of the road and pulled up there. Then he got out and answered the phone.

"Hello, Francisco here," he said. As he answered the phone, Susan, Lucy, Drake, Blake and Jake looked up at him curiously. Suddenly Francisco gasped in shock.

"No!" he snapped in disbelief, "No! You're kidding me! Th-that can't be possible, not with all the installed security devices in place."

When Susan heard Francisco mention security devices, she was struck with an awful feeling. Lucy, Drake, Blake and Jake also expected the worst.

"Alright, I'm on my way back anyway. I'll arrive as soon as I can. Bye," Francisco said and pressed the 'end call' button. He then gave Susan and the other four an awful look. Minutes later, Francisco, Susan, her sister and three cousins were back at Tulio's Aviary. There were police cars parked around the building and black and yellow barrier tapes with the words 'Do Not Cross' in both English and Portuguese were set up. Tulio, Linda and Fernando were also there. The guards were being questioned by police while Francisco was asking Tulio what happened. Tulio replied that burglars had managed to break into the Aviary and steal all the birds, including the eight Spix macaws, among them Susan and Lucy's pets. Upon hearing what had happened to their pets, including Dash and Veggie, Susan, Lucy, Drake, Blake and Jake were very upset and distressed. Susan sat on the steps crying. Francisco went over to her and comforted her by putting an arm around her back. Then he began to complain.

"I don't believe this, Tulio!" Francisco muttered angrily, "We've had lasers and detectors installed. How can any thief just break in?"

"I don't know," replied Tulio, "But I hope the stolen birds are alright."

"Especially those that are recovering," said one of the other assistants, "some of those birds are still healing of wing injuries. They might not stand a chance."

Then Lucy began to pray for the safe return of the pets and the other birds and that whoever was responsible for their theft would be caught and brought to justice. While she was doing this, one of the guards was answering a policeman's questions.

"What?" gasped the policeman in shock, "What do you mean you were set upon by a bunch of cats?"

"But I was, sir," replied the guard, "I heard a noise, went over to see what it was and all of a sudden I was pounced on by a bunch of moggies..."

When Drake, Blake and Jake heard this, they flinched in disbelief.

"Cats?" gasped Drake.

"Who would have cats help steal birds from this place?" asked Jake. Blake shrugged his shoulders, however. Tulio's wife and Blu's former owner, Linda, was also perplexed.

"I don't get it, Tulio," she said, "who would enlist the help of pet cats in the theft of birds?"

"Good question, Linda," replied Tulio, "We've had theft happen here once before but not like this... Nothing like this..."

Then Linda sighed and went over to Susan to comfort her while the police began questioning the other guards. At this moment, the captured birds from the aviary, who had found themselves stuffed into cages, were enveloped in darkness. Many of the cages had been loaded on some sort of wheelbarrow while some were carried. Some of the birds, particularly Susan and company's pets, were wondering where they were. Some had been stunned during their kidnap. In one of the cages, Cytosine was looking around in fear. Guanine, Adenine and Thymine, his siblings who had been put into the same cage as him, were huddled together in one corner fearfully while Madison shook herself in a cage adjacent to theirs.

"Whoa, what happened?" gasped the long head feathered macaw, "First we were in that decrepit human's place and then we were knocked out by something."

Cobalt, Breezy and Zephyr, who were in another cage opposite to Cytosine's and his siblings', were looking around also. Breezy huddled against Zephyr's chest in fear while Zephyr was scowling. Cobalt was seriously quivering.

"You have never been stolen or in the hands of smugglers, have you?" he asked Cytosine. Cytosine shook his head.

"Well, this is the problem when you're in the hands of the wrong sort of humans," added Cobalt with narrowed eyes, "especially when they're obsessed with money..."

"We've heard of smuggling before but I don't think we've been in the hands of smugglers before," muttered Thymine.

"Well, I have," snapped Madison angrily, "and believe me, the most fearful thing is you don't know what these wretched humans are going to do to you next. You might be abused; you might end up even killed."

Below the Spix macaws' cages, Ruby, Jasper, Opal, Emerald and Sapphire were looking around fearfully as well. The birds around them, the other birds that were in the Aviary, were afraid, eyes wide with fear.

"Our owners are gonna be seriously worried when they find us gone back at the Aviary," said Ruby, "especially Francisco and Tulio with the Spix macaws."

"I absolutely hate being in the hands of uncaring humans," muttered Emerald, "Especially if we've already got owners. Furthermore, God didn't create us animals to be mistreated and abused. These cages are terrible. I can hardly move an inch."

He, Ruby and Jasper were stuffed like plush dolls into a single cage while Opal was tightly packed into another cage with some small birds and a parakeet. Sapphire, however, was in a much worse state than the other four.

"Tell me about it, Emerald," snapped Sapphire. She was in a cage that was far too small for her species. Being a large bird inside a small cage was not comfortable at all, and Sapphire could hardly move, stand up or spread her wings.

"Hyacinth macaws were not MEANT to be stuffed into a cramped cage like this," said Sapphire, "This one's fit for budgies, let alone macaws. Back home, Susan has a cage that's large enough for me to move around and sleep comfortably in, and she knew full well that I needed a cage that was big enough for me."

"Same with the rest of our owners," muttered Opal as one of the small birds, a finch, struggled past her head. "I feel like a toy in an overstuffed toy box, honestly," added Ruby.

"Where are we heading to?" asked Jasper as he struggled to face Opal. Opal found a hole in the cloak and struggled to peep through it, brushing past the parakeet and the small birds in the process. The parakeet and finches complained and muttered.

"Sorry, you lot," replied Opal, "it's the cage. It's too small."

"I can see that!" snapped the parakeet as he was pushed into the bars of one side. Then Opal looked through the hole. She saw a door up ahead.

"Looks like we're being taken to some burglar's hideout," she said.

"Oh, not a burglar's hideout," muttered Jasper, "not there!"

The birds around them muttered in fear. The thieves and cats who had stolen and caged the birds, even though they were cloaked, were unaware that they were being followed. Dash and Veggie were behind them, quietly following them. Veggie looked around at the dismal buildings for they were in the slums of Rio.

"I honestly don't like this place, Dash," muttered Veggie as he observed the dark and grey scenery, "it looks dreadful."

Dash remained focussed on the cloaked thieves, however.

"Let's just see what those thieves are up to first, Veggie," he replied, "they've got our friends and possibly the other birds from the Aviary as well, and I wanna devise a way to rescue them."

Veggie nodded and continued walking beside the greyhound. The two animals continued following the cloaked thieves until they stopped at the door. The door opened and the cloaked thieves went inside. Once they had entered the building, Dash and Veggie jumped towards the window and looked through the broken glass, quietly so that they didn't disturb the thieves inside. Inside the house, the thieves' cloak was removed by two older men, a woman and more cats. Then the thieves, who were two teenaged humans and fraternal twin siblings, and the group of cats that went with them to catch the birds stood before a third man with their loot. Many of the cats were pleased but one, a white, ginger and black one, was not. It had a sad face. The boy and girl also had quite a sad face as the man sat behind a desk turned round and smiled. The first two men, the woman and more cats stood around the boy and girl and the wheelbarrow of caged birds.

"Well, look who's done an excellent job," said the seated man, "Brill job, Jack and Jill."

A dark grey cat sat on his knees also smiled at the other cats. The boy and girl, who were twins named Jack and Jill, only gave a sigh as the man got up from his seat, walked around the desk and began to inspect the birds closely. The dark grey cat did the same and had a wicked smile on its face.

"And you've done well to catch this many birds, too," added the man, "Looks like lotsa money will soon be flying into our pockets. Look how much bounty some of these will bring us..."

While he was inspecting the birds, the grey cat, which was a male walked in front of the group of cats that helped Jack and Jill to capture the birds.

"Well done, my associates," said the cat proudly, "you've done well to help Jack and Jill catch those feathered gems."

Then all the cats, except one, accepted his praise with smiles and nods. The one who didn't, which was a female calico, remained sad and disappointed. The grey cat looked at her surprised.

"Why are you so downcast, Cayfutray?" he asked the calico, "You should be proud of yourself."

"Yeah, Cayfutray," added a black and white male cat with a paw around the calico's back, "If it wasn't for you, we'd have struggled to catch the most bountiful birds of all, the Spix macaws."

Then the calico, named Cayfutray, began to speak.

"But Brutus," she said to the grey cat, "Some of the birds still have bandages on them and quite a few are seriously packed into some of the cages. Can't we put them into separate c..."

"Look Cayfutray," interrupted Brutus, "It doesn't matter if the birds are injured or packed into cages. Our main priority is the money we're gonna get from selling them. Focus on that, okay?"

With that, he went to the leader's side as the man began talking with the other two men, Jack and Jill. From the window, Veggie and Dash watched the smugglers carefully, while planning a rescue of the birds. Among the caged birds, they picked out the Spix macaws, Ruby, Jasper, Sapphire, Opal and Emerald.

"Sapphire looks seriously cramped in that little cage," Veggie whispered, "Susan never kept her in a cage that small."

"Shhh!" hushed Dash.

"Right, Marvin, Vera and Luke," said the leader, "Let's unload this wheelbarrow and see what we've got."

"Okay, Frank," nodded one of the men, named Marvin, rubbing his hands with glee. And with that the three humans and cats began to unload the cages and set them down on the floor. The birds were very afraid as they were lifted and placed on the floor. While they were doing this, Veggie and Dash got prepared to leap in and attack, but waited for the right moment. Then after all the cages were set out onto the floor for all to see, the leading man named Frank began to examine the birds more closely. He first looked at Sapphire who was unable to move in the small cage. Cayfutray looked at Sapphire sympathetically.

"This hyacinth macaw is worth quite a lot," he said with a wide grin.

"Hyacinth macaws aren't normally found near Rio, aren't they?" asked Vera.

"No, they're found much further south," said Frank, "but still, this bird is worth possible tens of reals." (Reals are Brazilian currency).

Then Frank moved on as the grey cat grinned evilly at Sapphire. Frank then began to inspect the macaws, parakeets, toucans and small birds.

"Hmm, there are quite a few green-winged macaws, blue-and-gold macaws and green macaws," he said, "as well as toucans and parakeets. They're not worth much but are still valuable."

Then Frank saw Opal, who looked at him with angry eyes as she struggled to move due to the other birds stuffed with her into the cramped cage, and said, "I don't know what sort of bird this is but I bet it's an ultra rare species. This one's worth a lot of reals."

"Er... it's a hybrid bird, Frank," said Marvin, "I don't think it's a species."

"Yeah but still," said Frank, "this bird's worth a lot of reals."

Then Frank moved onto the eight Spix macaws. Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine flinched in fear while Madison, Zephyr and Breezy looked back at Frank with fierce eyes. Cobalt also shook with fear.

"And these eight must be the last blue macaws left on earth," said Frank, "These are definitely worth hundreds of reals."

"Er, Frank," said Luke, "I don't think these eight are the very last macaws on earth. I've heard that there is two more living somewhere in the jungle near Rio with three babies. Don't you think we should go out there and catch them too?"

Frank thought at this suggestion, and then he said, "We'll see, Luke, but for now, let's focus on getting these birds packed and ready for leaving, okay?"

And with that, he moved on. Brutus looked closely and evilly at the Spix macaws and said, "You eight certainly are the diamonds of the collection, my blue gemstones. You're gonna bring us money... lotsa, lotsa money."

And with that he tittered evilly. Zephyr lashed at Brutus and nearly scratched his face with a talon. Brutus jumped back and screeched, "Why you little feathered..." and was about to lash back at the macaw with a paw but Frank stopped him.

"Brutus!" ordered Frank, "Don't kill those birds. We need them alive."

Brutus stared at Frank and then back at Zephyr.

"Maybe next time," he said evilly and then returned to Frank's side. As he walked away, Cytosine began to have memorial images flash in his mind. Brief pictures of cats snickering at him appeared briefly, making Cytosine quiver and mutter. Thymine, Guanine and Adenine also began to whimper.

"This situation feels familiar for some reason," said Thymine. Suddenly one of the cats banged on the cage.

"Shut up, birdo," he said evilly, "or you'll face the consequences."

Thymine flinched as the cat then moved on. Zephyr looked at Thymine with fierce eyes. Madison was also beginning to get agitated.

"I detest cages," she said under her breath, "I wonder why they were invented in the first place."

Cobalt also seemed uncomfortable in the cage, and was looking around with wide eyes full of fear. However he refused to reveal why he was so agitated. Cayfutray, Jack and Jill observed Cytosine and his siblings quivering and shaking like leaves.

"I think these birds already have owners, sir," said Jack, "Those four macaws have some sort of attire on them, possibly indicating ownership of someone else..."

"Look, Jack, shut up and don't object," snapped Frank slightly irritated, "it doesn't matter if any of these birds already have owners or not. What's more important is the success of selling them, so let's concentrate on that, okay?"

"But Frank..." began Jill but Frank told her to shut up as well.

"I said no objections," he snapped, "Now let's get loading these birds into the other room."

Jack and Jill reluctantly did so and went to picking up the cages containing the Spix macaws. Frank, Vera, Marvin and Luke and the cats also went to picking up the cages. Cayfutray just sat on the spot.

"I don't like this, Brutus," she said to Brutus, "Some of the birds are frightened and some are injured..."

"Look, Cayfutray, just help us get these cages into the storeroom, okay?" snapped Brutus irritably. Cayfutray reluctantly did as she was told. While the smugglers were preparing to transfer the cages into the storeroom, Veggie got prepared to strike while Dash, having found a hole in the wall, crept towards it. The smugglers were in for a nasty surprise. As soon as they and all the cats had their backs turned to him, Veggie leapt upon them from the window. He jumped onto Marvin's back, screeching loudly. Marvin jumped and screamed as the other five humans and cats jumped up in shock.

"What the (bleep)!?" gasped Frank in shock. Then Veggie began to attack Marvin by biting and clawing him. Marvin screamed and shouted as Vera, Luke and Frank ran towards him to get Veggie off his back. Their cats also joined the frenzy to help catch Veggie. Jack, Jill and Cayfutray, however, stood there in shock and fear. The birds were also afraid and shocked as chaos erupted in the room. Ruby managed to get a glimpse of the cat that had jumped onto Marvin's back.

"VEGGIE!?" she squawked. Cytosine and Adenine also got a glimpse of Veggie in the chaos as he dodged every hand and paw that came his way. The humans then began to bump into each other and the cats and fall over. Profane words and screams of frustration and pain erupted as Frank, Vera, Marvin and Luke fell into a heap, flattening some of the cats in the process. While all this was happening, Dash sneaked into the room through the hole in the wall and quickly grabbed one of the cages containing some parakeets. The parakeets squawked in fear.

"It's okay, I'm setting you free!" shouted Dash and with that he undid the lock on the cage door and opened it. The parakeets immediately flew out as soon as Dash had opened the door, and escaped through the broken window, which was large enough for them to fly through. Then Dash went on to the next one and set the caged toucans free. They also escaped via the broken window. While he was doing this, Jack saw the greyhound and ran at him. Dash gasped and jumped out of the way, sending Jack tripping up and crashing onto the floor. Frank, Vera, Luke and Marvin also saw Dash and lunged towards him. Dash retaliated by jumping at them and then he began to cause chaos for the smugglers. The cats tried to grab the dog but he dodged their attempts. While Dash was attacking the smugglers, Veggie rushed over to the cages to set free more birds. The birds were afraid of him while Ruby gasped.

"Don't worry, I'm harmless," shouted Veggie as he undid the next cage door's lock. "Make sure you carry those that cannot fly due to injury and return them to the Aviary!"

He opened it and had the macaws and small birds trapped inside the cage escape. The macaws and small birds made a fly for it through the window, with some of the macaws carrying those that still had a wing in bandages in their talons. Veggie then set the parakeet, small birds and Opal free. The birds shook themselves and then made a break for it towards the window but when Veggie unlocked the cage door and opened it to release Zephyr, Cobalt and Breezy, a white, ginger and black blur tackled him, sending him into a tumble. Veggie shook himself stunned as he wondered what hit him as the same blur, which was Cayfutray, pounced on him again. Then Veggie and Cayfutray began to engage in a catfight with Opal gasping in shock. Upon realising she was free, Opal began to continue Veggie's rescue and unlocked the door of the cage that held Sapphire. Back with the smugglers, the humans and the cats were trying to grab and restrain Dash but he kept jumping up and avoiding their attempts. He sent several cats colliding with each other in midair and Vera colliding with Marvin. When Zephyr, Breezy and Cobalt realised that the door to their cage had been opened thanks to Veggie, they immediately fled the cage and took off. They began to fly around the room looking for an escape while Cayfutray and Veggie continued fighting. While all this was happening, Opal set Madison and then Cytosine and his siblings free and they took to the air. After missing grabbing Dash again, Frank looked up and saw blue birds flying around the room. At this he cursed out loud and commanded his cats "Catch those blue macaws before they escape!"

The cats looked up and saw the eight macaws flying like mad around the room and took action by jumping at them. The macaws dogged the cats and continued flying around. The other still caged birds, including Ruby, Emerald and Jasper, looked at the macaws wide-eyed just as Opal opened their cage door. Veggie also looked up and got a glimpse of Cytosine.

"Cytosine!" he cried. Cytosine and Thymine swooped around Vera and Luke as they tried grabbing them with their hands only to miss. Suddenly a brown and black and white blur shot at them and knocked them out of the air. Then Adenine, Guanine and Cobalt were captured and pinned down. Guanine landed on the floor with such force that she screeched as shooting pain shot through her torso. The cat pinned her down with a paw to the head. Then Breezy was struck by a grey blur and sent flying into the wall. As she crashed onto the floor, another cat jumped on her and pinned her down. Back in the air, Zephyr and Madison continued flying around until they finally spotted the window.

"Zephyr!" cried Thymine as a cat held her against the floor with a paw. Zephyr and Madison then took off for the window but before they could escape the room, the same grey blur that struck Breezy down also smashed into the two macaws. Madison was sent ricocheting off the wall and flying into Sapphire. The two birds were then pinned against the floor by three more cats as Zephyr found himself staring face to face with a sadistic look from Brutus, who had tackled him, Breezy and Madison out of the air.

"Where do you think you're goin', my feathered goldmine?" sneered Brutus right in Zephyr's face. Zephyr only gasped in shock. Back with the humans, Frank and Vera had managed to grab and restrain Dash.

"What's the matter, macaw? Freedom suddenly snatched out of your reach?" sneered Brutus, "Well, I'm afraid it's true 'cos you ain't goin' anywhere..."

"Brutus," ordered Frank, and Brutus looked up at him.

"Cage that bird before you even think about killing it," command Frank. Brutus then eyed Zephyr and said,

Brutus then sneered at Zephyr and said, "This time, I'll let ya go, but the next time you escape, you might not be so lucky."

And with that, Brutus picked up the macaw by the neck and carried him to one of the cages. He tossed him into there. Two more cats then came in then threw Breezy and Madison in there also, one after the other. Breezy yelped in pain as she crashed into Zephyr. Then the cats caged Adenine, Thymine, Cytosine, Cobalt and Guanine and the rest of the birds, including Ruby, Emerald, Jasper, Sapphire and Opal. Opal had been clawed down the flank by one of the cats just as she was about to open another cage door and was bleeding slightly. She was holding her flank in agony as Ruby looked at her shocked. Then Frank and Marvin carried Dash over to another cage held by Vera and Luke and they shoved him in there. Cayfutray also came up with Veggie, pinned down against the floor by her paw.

"Well done, Cayfutray," said Frank, "You managed to catch that other snooper. Now let's get it caged as well."

Brutus could tell that Veggie wasn't one of the smugglers' cats for he was wearing a collar, as none of the cats of the smugglers wore collars. Doing as Frank commanded, the cats tossed Veggie into the cage with Cytosine, Thymine and Cobalt. Cytosine and Thymine were cross with Veggie but Cobalt backed away. Zephyr, Breezy and Madison also shrieked in the cage adjacent to Cytosine's.

"What were you and Dash trying to do, you stupid, brainless cat!?" shouted Cytosine, "You could have been killed!"

Guanine and Adenine, Ruby, Sapphire, Opal, Emerald and Jasper also gave Veggie with angry looks. Veggie just looked back at them with a gutted and frustrated face.

"I was only trying to rescue you!" he retorted, "No-one steals our friends, especially if they've got owners!"

"Well, look at what mess you've got yourself into!" said Thymine, "And Dash as well."

When Zephyr, Madison, Cobalt and Breezy heard Cytosine and Thymine talk with Veggie and saw Adenine and Guanine look at him angrily, they were extremely shocked.

"You're FRIENDS with that cat?" shouted Zephyr.

"Look, I can explain..." began Thymine but Madison and Breezy hissed loudly.

"I HATE you, you TACKY PETS!" squawked Zephyr and he spat at Thymine, making her jump back in disgust.

"You give birds a bad name!" added Madison.

"We really wish we'd never met you at all," put in Breezy. Cobalt also stared at Thyme and Cytosine angrily as Veggie just looked at him, embarrassed and ashamed.

"You shouldn't have befriended one of these bird-eating moggies, you two," said Cobalt quietly and angrily.

"He's a vegetarian cat, Cobalt," replied Thymine, "He's never eat... ow!"

She grabbed her wing as she felt pain shoot through it. Cobalt and Veggie looked at her and then at Breezy and Madison as they were also holding their wings.

"This is not good," said Veggie in worry. Just then Brutus came by and said to Veggie, "We'll deal with you and the greyhound later, twisted cat."

Veggie flinched at this remark. Then Frank and the other smugglers began to sort themselves out. Vera was supplying plasters and bandages for anyone who had been scratched or bitten by Dash or Veggie.

"I don't think we have enough plasters and bandages," she said, "I'm nearly out of them."

"Don't worry, Vera," replied Frank as he bandaged a scratch he had received from Veggie during the chaos, "J-Just take the remaining birds, that cat and greyhound into that storeroom."

Vera nodded and ordered Jack and Jill and some of the cats to help her take the remaining birds away. Then Jack, Jill, the cats including Cayfutray (who was very depressed for attacking Veggie) and Vera picked up the cages and carried them to the storeroom where more birds were being kept. Cytosine and the other seven Spix macaws looked around in horror as they saw other birds stuffed into cages like they were. Many were stuffed like dolls into some cages while some large birds were in cages that were too small for them.

"That was the sort of condition I and some of my relatives were in," said Madison to Zephyr and Breezy as they looked in horror at the state of the birds. Veggie and Dash, who was being carried in a separate cage by some cats, also looked around in horror. Ruby, Opal, Emerald, Sapphire and Jasper also had their beaks open in shock. Opal was still clutching her flank. Then Vera, Jack and Jill set the cages down on the floor and into stacks. Jack and Jill felt sad as they did this.

"Sorry, you lot," said Jack sadly. Then Jill saw Opal bleeding. She took out a bandage to give to Opal but Vera stopped her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Vera asked Jill with a stern face. Jill just shrugged.

"That macaw is bleeding," said Jill, pointing to Opal, but Vera just shrugged it off and snatched the bandage off of her.

"Let's just get out of here and get some dinner," growled Vera slightly. Then she left for the door, followed by Jack, Jill and the cats. Jack, Jill and Cayfutray among the cats, looked back sadly at the birds, Veggie and Dash. The animals looked back at them sorrowfully. Then the three humans and the cats with them left and shut the door. Jack was feeling bad.

"Honestly, Frank," said Jack, "I don't feel this is right."

"Shouldn't we look for paid work instead of stealing and smuggling birds?" added Jill. Frank just shook his head slightly irritated.

"Look, you two," he replied without sympathy, "You did a good job in stealing those birds including those eight Spix macaws. Let's not spoil it now with moaning and groaning, okay?"

With the cats, Cayfutray was looking back at the birds in the storeroom through a crack in the wall when Brutus came up to her.

"What are you doing, Cayfutray?" he asked.

"Oh, I was checking on the birds," replied Cayfutray.

"Look, they're alright," said Brutus as he led Cayfutray away from the wall, "Don't you worry about them."

"But some of them don't look very good," Cayfutray tried to complain, "especially that red-orange fronted macaw..."

"Look, I said don't worry about them!" said Brutus sharply, "Just focus on the more important goal of getting rich, okay?"

And with that he left and followed Frank. Cayfutray just sat down and gave a sigh. Jack and Jill also looked down with sad eyes when Jill saw some blue feathers on the floor. At this she went over, picked them up and looked at them. Jack did the same. Then the twins and Cayfutray left for upstairs.

"I hope that red-orange and multicoloured backed macaw's wound doesn't get infected," said Cayfutray to herself. Meanwhile the rest of the smugglers and cats were getting ready to watch san action movie.

"Come one, everyone!" cried Luke excitedly, "The film's starting!"

Marvin sat down with popcorn and a drink while Vera gave the cats their food. While they were preparing to watch the film, Frank was on the phone talking to a dealer about the Spix macaws. Brutus was with him.

"Yes, I have eight blue macaws caged," said Frank, "but I've been told that there are five more Spix macaws living here: two adults and three chicks. Do you want us to find and capture them?"

"Okay, we'll see to that in the morning," said Frank, "See you."

And with that he hung up and put his phone away. Going over to his subordinates and cats, he said, "Right, tomorrow morning, we load the caged birds onto the plane and catch the five remaining Spix macaws still out there. Is that clear?"

"Yes," said Vera, Marvin and Luke at the same time. The cats nodded in agreement as Brutus sat among them.

"Good, and I'll see you lot in the morning," said Frank as he left the door. Before he left, he said, "Oh, and don't forget Brutus, Vera," before leaving and shutting the door. Vera nodded as Brutus was waiting for his meal. Vera got his bowl and filled it with cat food, and placed the meal in front of Brutus. Brutus greedily dug into his meal and gorged his mouth with a lot of the meat. Vera reacted in disgust when the grey cat looked back up at her with cheeks full of food.

"Ugh, greedy, gluttonous, feline chipmunk," muttered Vera as she left to put the bag of cat food away.

**Right, that's it for chapter 5. Stay tuned for chapter 6. Oh and by the way, you'll have noticed that some of the birds that have tried to escape have been injured when the cats re-caught them. None of them are fractures, however but bad sprains, and Opal has been scratched as you will have noticed. Let's see how they will escape in the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6- escape from the smugglers' den**

Back in the storeroom, the caged birds were moaning and complaining in despair. Some of them were shivering with fright and cold, some were fretful and felt hopeless, and some were confused and had no idea where they were. Among the caged birds, Susan's pets, Zephyr, Madison, Breezy and Cobalt were either sitting uncomfortably in their cages or looking around for an escape. Dash the greyhound was sitting uncomfortably in his cage which was too small for him to move. Likewise, Sapphire the hyacinth macaw felt like she was a ragdoll stuffed into a small space. In another cage, Cytosine, Thymine, Cobalt and Veggie were sitting together. Cytosine and Thymine were still angry with Veggie and Dash for risking their lives trying to save them from the smugglers only to end up in this mess, as were the other pets of Susan named Guanine, Adenine, Jasper, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire and Opal. Cobalt was looking around timidly and afraid, while Madison, Zephyr and Breezy were sitting together in their cage. Emerald, Ruby, Jasper and Opal were also packed into a small cage together. The cage was so small that they cannot move around much while Adenine and Guanine had some movement space but not much either. Some of the birds were groaning and in pain. Opal especially was clutching her right flank. She had received a scratch down that area by one of the smugglers' cats as she was freeing the birds during Veggie and Dash's skirmish with the smugglers. In the chaos, the eight Spix macaws Madison, Cobalt, Zephyr, his sister Breezy, Cytosine and his siblings Thymine, Guanine and Adenine had tried flying around looking for an escape but were caught and re-caged by the cats. In the process, some of them had been injured. Madison, Breezy, Thymine, Adenine and Guanine had had their wings sprained and were worrying that they might not be able to fly. Emerald and Sapphire were also injured in the chaos: Emerald had suffered also a sprain but in the wing itself caused by the forceful throw back into his cage by one of the cats while Sapphire was almost contorted as more cats forced her into the tiny cage, pulling on a muscle in a wing. Fortunately none of the birds had suffered broken wings. Madison was clutching her chest close to her right wing.

"Oh, my wing muscle's really sore," she muttered, "It hurts whenever I move my wing."

"So is mine," said Breezy as she moved her left wing but felt pain in the flight muscles that connected to her wing, "I hope it's not broken."

"Those cats have thrown you around quite violently," said Ruby, "so I'm not surprised you've been injured."

"Yes, but that means I cannot return to the rainforest with my sister injured," snapped Zephyr angrily, "Those wretched feline scumbags have caused some of us serious damage."

Then Ruby turned to Opal to have a look at her wound. However the movement space was so small that the four macaws could not move without brushing against each other. Emerald and Jasper were unable to move out of the way, and Opal was reluctant to move her wing.

"It's okay, I just want to have a look at your scratch," said Ruby comfortingly.

Veggie, who was in the same cage as Thymine, Cytosine and Cobalt, gave a sigh of disgust.

"Those two Spix macaws are not the only birds that have been injured," he said, referring to Madison and Breezy, "Thymine, Adenine and Guanine have apparent sprained wings as well. As for Opal, I hope her cat scratch doesn't get infected. She needs a bandage on that wound, and quick."

Cobalt gave Veggie a hostile glare and snarled, "With us in the hands of them money-obsessed smugglers, absolutely not."

Then Ruby looked carefully at Opal's injury. The scratches were not that deep, but they were red raw, and were painful. Opal was gasping and wincing in pain as she put her wing down over it again. Ruby gave a sigh.

"Well, the good news Opal is, that scratch isn't too serious, but we need to be back at Tulio's Aviary so that we can have that bandaged," she said.

"Not while we're in this dismal place," said Emerald who was right next to Ruby, "And Opal's not the only casualty who will need medical attention. Some of the Spix macaws look like they will need it as well, as do I and possibly Sapphire."

And with that he looked at Madison, Breezy, Thymine, Guanine and Adenine as they were holding their flanks in pain. Sapphire gave a sigh at that remark; the cats had nearly dislocated one of her wings as they forced her into the cage. Then Madison asked Emerald a question.

"How it that that disgusting feline rat named Veggie doesn't just turn those three macaws in the cage with him into dinner or something?" she asked scornfully, pointing straight at Veggie with a wingtip. Veggie raised a paw and said, "I'm a vegetarian cat. I've never killed or eaten a bird in my entire life."

Cobalt just scoffed at this reply however, and Zephyr, Breezy and Madison did the same.

"Ha, yeah, right," said Zephyr sarcastically, "For all we know about cats, they're nothing but bird-killing machines."

"Not always," replied Veggie, "and cats certainly weren't bird killers before Adam sinned against God."

"Huh?" asked Cobalt. Thymine began to explain to him.

"It's a Christian belief that there was no predation in God's creation before Adam's sin, Cobalt," she said, "Our owners are Christians and they believe that Genesis account."

"I've heard of that story before," Cobalt pondered. Zephyr, however, just shook his head.

"Well, I want out of this place right now," he snapped, "so that I can get Breezy safely back into the jungle and tend to her apparent wing sprain."

Then Sapphire, who was in a very small cage next to Dash, grunted at this remark.

"I absolutely agree," she hissed, "This cage is seriously too small for me to even move, and those cats of those smugglers have stretched one of my wings almost to dislocation upon forcing me into this tiny thing. My wing hurts quite badly as a result."

Cobalt looked at Sapphire sympathetically and said, "For a hyacinth macaw, you need plenty of cage space. Does your owner have a large enough cage?"

"Yes she does," replied Dash, answering on Sapphire's behalf, "Our owners Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake keeps Sapphire in a cage just big enough for her species when it is night time, and she's not kidding about these tiny cages. Looks like those uncaring smugglers have stuffed me into a cage that is way too small for an adult greyhound."

It was true, like Sapphire, Dash had been forced into a cage too small for his breed. Then Jasper gave a sigh of disgust.

"Who are those smugglers to treat God's animals as though they are just things to be sold?" he snarled angrily, "God didn't create us animals to be abused or mistreated."

"True," said Sapphire.

"And to add," added Emerald, "we animals are to be loved and cared for as it is mankind's responsibility to look after and be stewards of God's creation."

"This situation partly reminds me of _Black Beauty_," said Guanine, "A book about a black horse and his life Susan used to read when we were younger. There's a scene where Black Beauty, the titular horse, is forced to overwork almost to the point of collapse and death, a good and classic example of animal cruelty."

"That's right," said Adenine, "and keeping birds in a too cramped cage is another example of animal cruelty, especially if some of them are injured and still on the road to recovery…"

Then Zephyr began to boil in anger.

"Well, I want to be out of this cage as soon as possible," he snarled, "I detest cages and I especially detest cats! I just can't wait to get out of this miserable piece of human trash and escape into the jungle."

"Same here!" added Breezy.

"And there's no way I'm staying with birds who love cages and cats," snorted Madison and with that she glared at Thymine, Cytosine, Guanine and Adenine and then at Sapphire, Ruby, Opal, Emerald and Jasper. Sapphire just looked at Madison back with a face of disgust. Then Thymine noticed Cobalt start to tremble and mutter. His breathing became faster and irregular and his feathers were ruffled.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I agree with Zephyr, Madison and Breezy, actually," replied Cobalt timidly, "I want out of this place right now."

While he was talking, Veggie walked up to the cage lock and undid the bolt.

"Speaking of right now, blue macaw," said Veggie with determination, "I'm inclined to agree with you. These birds don't belong here. They should be back in the wild while those that are injured should be back in Tulio's Aviary, especially Dash and Susan's birds for we belong to Susan and her sister and three cousins."

"My name's Cobalt, furball," snapped Cobalt.

"Sorry, Cobalt," said Veggie. But before Veggie could open the door, birds around the group began to quiver and back away as something walked into the storeroom.

"Now what's up?" snarled Ruby as the other birds and Dash looked in the direction of what was causing the commotion. Veggie gasped and re-locked the cage. Closer to the door, some small birds backed away as a dark grey cat walked by and looked at them with a wicked smile and brown eyes full of meanness and sadism to intimidate them. It was Brutus, and he had come to check on the birds. He prowled past some more cages like an intimidating jail guard. The birds in those cages backed away in fear. Brutus smiled evilly at them. Susan's birds (that is, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Jasper, Ruby, Opal, Sapphire and Emerald), Veggie, Dash, Cobalt, Zephyr, Madison and Breezy looked at Brutus as he began to pick on a group of toucans stuffed into a cage. Sapphire and Dash struggled to move in their cramped cages. The toucans backed away and squeaked as Brutus peered at them through the bars.

"Oh, wassup, my prized gemstones in feathers?" he asked sarcastically, "Am I frightening you?"

He then jumped over to another cage containing three parakeets and reached out a paw. The three parakeets backed away into the furthest corner of the cage.

"Oh, come on you three," said Brutus with false sympathy, "I only wanna stroke you."

Then one of the parakeets looked at the other two and began to slowly approach Brutus. It then timidly and slowly moved its head close to Brutus' paw, shaking more violently the closer it got. Then when the parakeet was an inch away from Brutus' paw, Brutus immediately withdrew it and screeched right in the parakeet's face, bearing his teeth. The green parrot jumped violently out of its feathers and screeched. Brutus laughed maniacally at its response. Dash, Veggie, the eight Spix macaws, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal and Jasper looked at Brutus in shock with wide open eyes, beaks and mouths.

"He's like Nigel the cockatoo!" gasped Cobalt.

"Nige…" began Thymine when all of a sudden Brutus jumped onto the cage containing her, Cobalt, Veggie and Cytosine and knocked the cage over. The cat and three blue macaws were thrown around slightly like toys in a box. Thymine cried briefly as she felt shooting pain in her wing muscles. Then Brutus stood in the middle of the group glaring at them and then at Zephyr, Madison and Breezy, then Sapphire, Ruby, Jasper, Opal and Emerald and then at Adenine and Guanine, with a wide grin on his face.

"Ah, I may be a very mean cat," said Brutus softly and scornfully, "but I have a very nice… dream…"

And with that he jumped from the middle of the cages holding Susan's pets and the other four Spix macaws and landed on one of the cages containing a military macaw hanging from the ceiling as a song began to play. This song was 'Money Money Money' by ABBA. Brutus began to groove to the song and jumped down from the cage to trot on the floor.

Brutus: You think I have a buffet of all the birds that I could eat… 'cos I'm a cat… You think I'm gonna turn you feathered meatballs into a meal… but it's not that!

Brutus then jumped towards some cages and continued sing. Birds in those cages fled and twittered in fear as he landed close to them.

Brutus: In my dream, it's something else. No it's not food, it's something else… and it's gonna come from all you Braz-il-i-an bir-dies…

(Music section)

Brutus then jumped to a middle of some cages and began to sing the chorus while dancing on his back feet.

Brutus: Money, money, money… yes it's money… that's my biggest dream…

He then jumped over to some more cages and startled more birds.

Brutus: money, money, money… it sounds funny… but that's my ultimate dream!

Then the grey cat jumped over to Guanine and Adenine and looked closely at them. The two macaws looked back at him appalled and angry.

Brutus: ahaaaaaa-aa-aaa-aaaaaah… Now you get th-the point…

Brutus then jumped away and landed on top of another cage on the ground.

Brutus: it will be from all you birdies… that's my biggest dream!

(Music section) Brutus: that's my biggest dream!

Brutus then began to trot towards the cage holding Veggie, Cytosine, Thymine and Cobalt as he sang the next verse.

Brutus: oh you sure do look so woe-be-gone and wish you were flyin' free… that's too bad. (Dances in front of Cytosine, Cobalt and Thymine up close) So you say you miss your be-lov-ed Brazilian home… that's so sad.

Brutus then jumped away and landed in the centre of a circle of more cages and began to hold up two containing some finches and a macaw.

Brutus: In my dream, I have a plan… to sell you birdies, and hopefully then… lotsa metallic discs and paper pieces will be landin' in my paws… (Music section)

Brutus (puts down cages and jumps back to Cytosine's group): Money, money, money… yes it's money… that's my biggest dream…

Brutus: money, money, money… it sounds funny… but that's my ultimate dream!

Then Brutus jumped over to Ruby, Emerald, Opal and Jasper and Sapphire and looked at them with greedy eyes. The five macaws looked back at him disgusted or afraid. Dash did the same.

Brutus: ahaaaaaa-aa-aaa-aaaaaah… Now you get th-the point…

Brutus then jumped from the five macaws and landed on a pyramid of caged birds, dancing on his back legs on its apex.

Brutus: it will be from all you birdies… that's my biggest dream! (Musical section)

Brutus (dances in the centre of many rings of caged birds on his front feet in a handstand fashion): Money, money, money… yes it's money… that's my biggest dream…

Brutus (trots): money, money, money… it sounds funny… but that's my ultimate dream!

Brutus (jumps over to another cage): ahaaaaaa-aa-aaa-aaaaaah… Now you get th-the point…

Brutus: it will be from all you birdies… that's my biggest dream! (Musical section)

He then jumped over to Cytosine's group and grabbed Zephyr's neck and shouted, "That's my biggest dream!" and threw him back into the cage. As soon as he had finished his cover of ABBA's song, Brutus said, "See ya tomorrow, my precious feathered jewels and jackpots," and then leaped from the cages towards the door.

"The same goes for the rest of you birdies as well," called Brutus meanly, "See ya tomorrow!"

And with that he gave a maniacal meowy laugh and left through the door.

"Yeah, don't count on it, moneybags," shouted Cytosine in reply.

"Money isn't everything to life you know," added Veggie. While they were talking, Ruby began struggling with the cage door while Zephyr began to boil with anger and determination. Thymine turned to him and asked, "Are you alright Zephyr?"

At this, Zephyr snapped and threw himself at the door of the cage holding him, Breezy and Madison furiously.

"ALRIGHT!?" he squawked at the top of his voice, "No, I am NOT ALRIGHT! I WANT OUTA HERE THIS MINUTE!"

And with that he ran to the opposite side of the cage and charged the door, shaking the cage violently and knocking Breezy and Madison over.

"Oi, Zephyr!" cried Madison, "Pull yourself together!"

Zephyr didn't hear at first and threw himself at the Cage door again, jerking the cage more violently. Madison lifted a wing and slapped Zephyr across the face.

"Snap out of it, Zephyr!" she squawked as she did it. Zephyr stopped his temper tantrum in an instant from the sudden pain, and calmed down. Cobalt frowned and undid the lock of the cage door holding him, Cytosine, Thymine and Veggie.

"Well, I'm not staying here a second longer," he snorted as he pushed the door open, "I think it's time we were gone. If we stay here, that money-obsessed feline numskull and his owners and cohorts are going to smuggle us out of this country, and who knows what gruesome demise we might meet?"

"Absolutely," replied Veggie as he, Cytosine and Thymine left the cage, "And they'll not care if you birds are injured further or even killed!"

Cobalt then undid Zephyr, Breezy and Madison's cage door and let the three macaws out. Cytosine said, "We'll help you."

"Make sure you be as quick as you can," replied Cobalt sharply, "Those cats could hear us any moment. We've got to get these birds outa here and fast."

Cytosine nodded and then he and Thymine went to unlocking more cages. They released their older siblings Guanine and Adenine first and then turned their attention to the other birds. Adenine then set Sapphire free and helped her out of the tiny cage. Sapphire was relieved to be out of it.

"Phew, what a relief," she said, "Glad to be out of that cramped cage."

"Just set to work in releasing the other birds Sapphire," replied Adenine as Guanine freed Dash. Sapphire nodded and left to help. Elsewhere Ruby, Emerald and Jasper were unlocking more cages and releasing more birds.

"Alright, any of you well enough to return to the wild make a break for it," commanded Ruby, "While those of you who need to be back in Tulio's Aviary, fly back to there, and make sure you carry those that cannot fly yet."

The birds nodded and did exactly what Ruby said. Soon birds were escaping the barred window. Some parted ways for the jungle while some flew back to Tulio's Aviary, carrying any birds still unable to fly with them. Veggie and Dash were helping to unlock more cages too. While they were doing this, Thymine asked Cobalt, "How is it you know how to unlock cags, Cobalt?"

"I was once a pet of someone, as you are now," replied Cobalt, "It's a long story. Now isn't the time to talk about it."

Thymine just looked at him and went back to unlocking more cages. At this very moment, Vera, Luke and Marvin, and the cats were getting excited over the film they were watching when Brutus rose his head in suspicion. At this he jumped onto the table and pressed the 'off' button on the remote control, turning off the TV to the frustration of the three humans and the rest of the cats.

"Hey, it was coming up to a brilliant bit there!" cried Vera and she and Brutus began wrestling each other for the remote. Suddenly one of the cats came running in and screeched, "The birds are escaping!"

When the other cats heard this, they went mad and dashed for the storeroom. Marvin, Vera and Luke looked at each other and hurriedly followed. Back in the storeroom, the last of the caged birds were freed and they flew out of the window. After this, Susan's pets and the other four Spix macaws were ready to escape themselves.

"Right, let's go," said Ruby. However, something was wrong. As the birds fluttered onto the edge of the barred window, some of them cried in excruciating pain and flopped onto the window. Breezy, Madison, Thymine, Guanine, Adenine, Emerald and Sapphire were the ones crying in pain and they all held their wings in agony. Opal was also grasping the scratch on her flank. The scratch was making flight too painful for her. Veggie, who had jumped onto the window besides the birds, was horrified.

"Their wing sprains are too great!" he yelled, "It's making flying too painful for them!"

"Oh, great!" snapped Ruby in frustration. Dash was about to jump onto the ledge as well when suddenly the door opened behind the group and "The (bleep)in' birds have escaped!"

In their horror, the fifteen animals turned their heads around and gasped as they saw the three smugglers and their cats come rushing towards them. Veggie and the birds jumped while Dash immediately charged through the wave of cats like a bull. He bowled a lot of the cats over and stepped on some of them with his feet in the rush. Dash then ran past the three humans, knocking them over like bowling skittles. Outside, the injured birds began to screech as searing pain shot through their bodies as they hovered. Ruby then realised the seriousness of the situation as Sapphire suddenly grabbed her tail with her beak and began to pull her down as the sprain in her wing reached critical.

"Sapphire, what are you… AAAAAARRRGGGGH!" cried Ruby as she was dragged down by the massive hyacinth macaw. Breezy, Madison, Thymine, Guanine, Adenine, Opal and Emerald also plummeted after Ruby and Sapphire as their pain reached critical also. Jasper, Zephyr, Cobalt and Cytosine swooped down after the other nine birds while Veggie slid down a pipe. Ruby and Sapphire then crashed into a pile of pillows below, followed by five Spix macaws, a harlequin macaw and a great green macaw. Jasper, Zephyr, Cobalt and Cytosine landed and immediately began to help the other nine birds out of the pile of cushions. Veggie also helped and lifted out Breezy. Breezy screeched and swiped Veggie across the face with a wing. Veggie jumped and released her.

"What's it with you lot and your filthy cat?" shouted Breezy.

"I was only trying to help!" retorted Veggie. Breezy was about to lash at Veggie with a talon but Cytosine stopped her.

"Don't claw him," he shouted as he restrained her, "You'll make your injury worse for one and Veggie's our friend for another!"

"OUR friend?" screeched Breezy, "He's not our friend if he's one of them bird killing machines."

"I have NEVER KILLED A BIRD!" snapped Veggie angrily, "I know you're scared of me but…"

Suddenly Dash appeared and shouted, "Those smugglers are hot on our tails. Let's go!"

"But most of us can't fly!" cried Thymine, "Our injuries are too painful!"

Then Veggie had an idea.

"I know," he cried, "Those of you that can fly carry some of the injured birds while Dash and I take

the remaining birds!"

"Do we have to trust you, furball!?" shouted Madison.

"Yes, you have to trust us!" retorted Veggie.

"There's no time!" cried Dash as he laid down so that some of the birds could climb onto his back,

"Onto my back, some of you, now!"

Sapphire, Adenine and Emerald immediately jumped onto Dash's back while Zephyr took Breezy, Cytosine took Madison, Ruby took Opal and Cobalt took Guanine their talons. Veggie also had Thymine climb onto his back but no sooner she had done this than a "There they are!" was heard. Marvin, Vera, Luke and their cats lead by Brutus had found them (having followed Dash after recovering from their fall) and began to pursue them. The birds, Veggie and Dash immediately took off.

"Hang on!" cried Dash to Sapphire, Opal, Adenine and Emerald as he ran as fast as he could. Thymine was also gripping Veggie as he jumped agilely through the crowd of people. In the air, Zephyr, Cobalt, Ruby, and Cytosine flew with Breezy, Guanine, Opal and Madison respectively in their talons while Jasper flew on his own close behind. The flyers were beginning to get a lead ahead of the grounders. At this, Ruby stopped and hovered with Opal in her talons to wait for Dash and the others on the ground.

"You go. We'll catch up!" cried Dash. At this, Ruby flew on.

"We'll see you in the jungle!" she cried as she flew off. On the ground, Dash and Veggie with Sapphire, Emerald, Adenine and Thymine on their backs were running with the smugglers and their cats in hot pursuit. The cat and greyhound dodged every person and obstacle in the way while the people in the street also dashed and jumped as they saw the cat and greyhound run past them. Behind Dash, Veggie and the birds on their backs, the three humans and their cats were gaining on them. Brutus was determined to catch up to the cat and dog and claw them when he did. He was screeching furiously and was running ahead of the other smugglers. Thymine, who was on Veggie's back, looked back at the smugglers horrified.

"They're gaining on us!" she cried, "What shall we do?"

Dash then saw a stall of apples up ahead and had an idea. He commanded Adenine, Sapphire and Emerald on his back to hold on tight and as soon as the two running animals were near the apple stall, Dash jumped up and struck the pile of apples with a paw. The apples cascaded from the table like an avalanche and onto the floor. Vera, Marvin, Luke and most of the cats ran straight onto the apples and began slipping and sliding all over the place.

"Good thinking, Dash!" cried Sapphire with a wide smile. However Dash and Veggie weren't clear of the smugglers yet as they still had one cat hot on their tail. Brutus, the leader of the smugglers' cats, was screeching and dashing after them. He had narrowly avoided being slipped up by the apples and was back on the chase. Emerald looked back at him and screeched, "Aaahhh! That money-obsessed psycho-cat is right behind us!"

Adenine and Thymine were also worried but Sapphire was calm.

"Don't look back!" she commanded. Thymine, Adenine and Emerald did so and looked straight ahead. Adenine began to mutter.

"(Growl), how are we going to find our owners if we can't fly?" he snarled in frustration.

"We'll see to that tomorrow," replied Dash, "Let's just get outa here first!"

"Watch out!" cried Veggie. Dash looked straight ahead and saw a group of people not looking at them. At this he howled to make them jump. The group of people jumped and moved at the last second, narrowly avoiding Dash as he ran past them. One of the people then lost his balance and fell right in front of Brutus. Since Brutus was not aware of it in time, he tripped over the person and tumbled violently like tumbleweed to a stop. He then saw Veggie and Dash escape and screeched in frustration. His stash of 'gems' had escaped. Angrily, he stormed back to the rest of the smugglers. Later, the group had reached the jungle. They were now looking for a place to spend the night. Unlike Blu and Jewel when they had managed to escape the birds didn't have to worry about restricted movement caused by chains for they had not been chained together. As the fifteen animals were walking through the forest, they were talking about several things. Zephyr, Cobalt, Madison and Breezy were still surprised with Veggie's unusual vegetarian trait.

"So let me get this straight, that cat has never eaten a bird, fish or mouse in his life?" asked Zephyr.

"Never," said Cytosine, "and he absolutely refused to. Ever since he was a kitten, all he wanted to eat was fruit and vegetables, except a few like avocados of course, since they are toxic for cats."

"Our owners were aware of that, Cytosine," said Veggie.

"Well, even though we are disgusted that you have a cat friend," said Breezy with a frown, "We are so glad that he isn't like those wretched cats of the smugglers."

"We have never met a cat that eats only fruit and veg," put in Cobalt. Up ahead, Madison was looking up at the trees and pondering.

"How are we going to get up there?" she murmured in puzzlement. Ruby looked at her.

"What's up?" she asked.

"We want to fly into the trees to spend the night, red macaw," said Madison sharply, "but with these wing muscle injuries, we can't fly, so I'm pondering how we are going to get up there."

"In the trees?" asked Cytosine. Then Cobalt turned to him and said, "Didn't you know that our natural habitat is in trees?"

"Yes?" replied Cytosine. Dash then smiled and looked at him.

"You should know that macaws and toucans live in trees, Cytosine," he said with a laugh, "You've read about that in books when we were living in London."

"What's a 'London'?" asked Zephyr.

"It's a very big city like Rio," explained Thymine, "But it is not a Brazilian city. It's a city of another country."

"Somewhere else in South America?" asked Cobalt.

"No," replied Thymine, "A country of Europe called the United Kingdom."

"It's across the Atlantic Ocean," explained Adenine.

"So you're from a country across the Atlantic?" asked Breezy.

"Yes," said Guanine.

"Interesting," said Cobalt with a smile. Meanwhile, Madison was still pondering about how the birds were going to get up into the trees when Zephyr came up.

"I think the only way we are going you injured birds to get up into the trees is by carrying you," he said. Emerald came up and said, "That sounds like a good idea, but what about Sapphire?"

Zephyr looked at Sapphire. Being a hyacinth macaw, Sapphire was a massive bird, nearly twice Zephyr and Breezy's height. She was also the heaviest bird of Susan's pets excluding Dash and Veggie, and had a massive wingspan.

"I don't know," replied Zephyr. Cytosine then came up and said, "I think carrying her will require two of us instead of one, since she is very large."

"I'm the largest of Susan's birds," replied Sapphire, "so I think that's a good idea. Since almost all of you are almost half my size, one would not be sufficient to take me up into those trees."

"I'll help get you up there," said Cobalt politely.

"Thanks," replied Sapphire with a smile. While they were talking, Dash was bandaging Opal's wound with a large leaf freshly picked from a nearby forest floor plant.

"There," said Dash when he had finished, "That should do it until we get back to Tulio's Aviary."

"Thanks, Dash," said Opal relieved as she rubbed a wing over the makeshift bandage.

"That'll have to do for now," agreed Veggie. Just then Zephyr and Ruby called Opal's attention.

"Are you ready to be carried into the trees, Opal?" asked Ruby. "Cobalt has just lifted Guanine up into the trees."

"Yes," replied Opal, "I'm ready."

"Good," said Ruby with a smile but then she became concerned about Dash and Veggie.

"But what about these two?" she asked.

"We're going to have to sleep down here," said Dash.

"Down here?" said Madison in shock, "But don't you realise there's dangerous animals around here like snakes?"

"Dogs can't climb trees, Madison," replied Dash, "So I don't have a choice. I will just have to look for a safe place to spend the night."

And with that he looked around until he found a hole in the ground. At this Dash went over to it and smiled.

"Yeah, this'll do," he said. Then Veggie said, "I'm a good tree climber but unfortunately, I'm not going to risk a fatal fall climbing these large trees, so I'm staying down here."

"It's a good idea, Veggie," said Ruby, "And it's awkward to carry you up as well. It's better if you're down here with Dash."

Then she got prepared to carry Opal up into the tree just as Cytosine lifted Thymine off the ground by the wings with his talons.

"Ready, Opal?" Ruby asked as she wrapped her talons around Opal's wings.

"Yes," replied Opal quite nervously.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Veggie as he gave Opal a brief hug. Madison looked on in disgust.

"You too," replied Opal and after they had broken the hug, Ruby lifted Opal off the ground. As they ascended into the canopy, Opal asked, "Why do we have to sleep in trees, anyway?"

"It's too risky for birds on the ground, Opal," replied Ruby as she flapped, "Not so for rheas but for macaws like us, we're easy targets for snakes and jaguars if we stay on the ground."

Just then Zephyr came flapping down to pick up Madison. As he heard Ruby said this, he said, "You know, for a pet, you seem to know and understand really well why we macaws have to stay up in the trees."

And with that he continued downward, leaving Ruby to give a sigh and continue taking Opal upward. As soon as they were in the canopy, Ruby placed Opal on the branch next to Thymine.

"I'm going to help Cobalt lift Sapphire," said Ruby and with that she flew back down to the forest floor. Opal gave a sigh and stroked a wing over her bandaged injury.

"You know something, Thymine," she said.

"What's that?" asked Thymine.

"I think Susan is not going to be impressed when she finds some of us injured," said Opal. Guanine gave a sigh of irritation.

"She and the others back at the Aviary are going to get those smugglers caught and imprisoned for both stealing animals and animal cruelty," she said sharply, "those thieves deserve justice."

"Yes," agreed Adenine who was next to her, "especially the way they stuffed many of us birds into those cages, especially Sapphire."

He nodded to Sapphire as Ruby and Cobalt heaved her up onto the branch by the wings and tail. Cobalt had her tail while Ruby had her wings. Behind them Madison was helped onto the branch by Zephyr. Then as soon as all 13 birds were on the branch, Emerald and Jasper began to admire the view.

"Wow," Emerald said in awe, "This is awesome. Look at the city."

"This is not like London where it is actually in the mainland," said Jasper, "But that city is close to water."

The other birds took a look at the cityscape. The city was alive with the glow from its lights and the ocean in front of it was glistening in the moonlight. The view reminded Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine and Guanine of something.

"I think we've seen the city before," said Cytosine, "But I don't think it was at night."

"You have?" queried Cobalt.

"It feels so familiar," said Thymine.

"It's like… we've seen it before," said Adenine, "but we aren't sure if it's true."

"Déjà vu probably," replied Cobalt. Then Guanine pointed out the Christ the Redeemer statue and said, "I remember someone talking about that landmark as being like some sort of decoration of the city, but I' don't remember who said it…"

"It's nothing important," said Jasper. "Anyway, let's just settle down."

Above the birds, the sky was clear and the stars were out shining brightly. Ruby looked up and smiled.

"Isn't God's creation beautiful when there's no cloud in the sky," she said soothingly.

"It sure is," said Sapphire, "Especially the Milky Way."

"It is fascinating to gaze at the sea of stars and admire the beauty of the night sky," said Zephyr casually, "But we should all be getting off to sleep by now."

"Absolutely," said Breezy in agreement. And with that, Zephyr and Breezy tucked their heads under their wings. The other birds did the same. Before she went to sleep, Ruby looked out into the city of Rio.

"I hope you'll find us soon, Susan," she sighed to herself. Back on the ground, Dash and Veggie had entered the burrow and had covered the entrance with a few stones to prevent any wild animal from entering. The dog and cat then drifted off to sleep.

Back in Rio, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake had managed to print out a picture of all their pets and were now walking about the streets asking passers-by if they had seen any of them. Francisco was walking with them.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Susan asked a lady, "Have you seen any of these pets?"  
>The lady shook her head and walked on. Susan then asked the same question to a man but he also shook his head.<p>

"Have you seen a hyacinth macaw about this tall?" Drake asked another lady and indicated Sapphire's height with a hand. The lady replied, "No, I haven't. Sorry," and walked on. Drake gave a sigh and left to catch up with the others. Blake asked another man, "Have you seen a greyhound that has light grey fur and is about this tall?"

"Sorry, I haven't," said the man and he left. Blake then asked someone else but got the same answer. Lucy and Jake were also asking other people about the pets but al they got was no. While the five owners were continuously asking questions to more people about their missing pets, Francisco was still puzzled about how the smugglers had managed to break into the Aviary despite all the installed security technology. The guard that was attacked had said that the cat attack occurred just as he was getting prepared for guard duty and when he woke up from that ordeal, every single bird had vanished. Suddenly his mobile phone rang. Francisco took out his phone and answered it.

"Hi, Tulio," he said, "Any news?"

"We have, Francisco," replied Tulio on the other side, "A lot of the stolen birds have returned to us including the injured ones. How they managed to escape the thieves, I don't know."

"Are any of Susan and her sister and three cousins' pets and the other four Spix macaws among them?" asked Francisco.

"No, I'm afraid," replied Tulio sadly, "But we are going to try and get to the bottom of this and find out where the thieves' lair is and get them caught before we have any more burglaries. If you do catch sight of Susan's pets, especially the eight Spix macaws, can you please let us know? It is vitally important that we find those eight blue macaws since they are so important in our Spix macaw conservation project."

"Yes, Tulio, I'll let you know if we find them," replied Francisco, "'Bye."

And with that he hung up and put his phone away. Lucy gave a sigh.

"Do you think we'll find our pets?" she asked.

"How are we going to find a cat, a greyhound and nine macaws in a city this size?" moaned Drake, "If they're even in this city at all?"

"What can we or Tulio and Linda or anyone do?" asked Blake. Jake and Susan also gave a sigh in agreement. Francisco looked sympathetically at them. Then he checked his watch and noticed the time.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to find the hostel I booked for you and turn in for the night, folks," he said, "It's getting late."

Susan just looked at him with sorrowful eyes.

"But what if we can't find them?" she asked, her voice sounding edgy.

"We'll have to see to that tomorrow, Susan," replied Francisco sadly. "Come on, let's find our hostel."

The two ladies and three young men reluctantly and sadly obeyed and left with Francisco to find the hostel Francisco booked for the five during their booking of the trip to spend the night. They will start their search for the pets again tomorrow. Francisco understood how Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake felt and was determined to find the eight Spix macaws that were kidnapped with the other birds for he, like Tulio, do not want them to be smuggled out of Brazil.

**This chapter is finally finished. Also, can you guess what Cobalt's dark secret could be? Find out in a few chapters.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7- The cats are sent out, Cytosine and his group meet Rafael**

It was morning and the sun had just come up into the sky. The people of Rio were waking up and were preparing for their daily activities. In a hostel, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake had just woken up from a rough night. They hadn't slept much last night at all, for they had been full of worry and stress about their pets. Lucy had been praying that they would be found soon safe and sound. After the five humans and Francisco have showered, got dressed and had breakfast, they went out into the streets to ask more people about Susan's missing pets. Susan had the poster of the eleven pets again and as usual showed them to passers-by, asking if they had seen them, but all she got was no. Lucy and the triplet cousins also asked other people but they had not seen any of the pets either, much to their sadness. Back at the Aviary, Tulio, Linda and the rest of the ornithologists were tending to the birds that had returned to them, making sure that they were alright and that their injuries hadn't worsened. Linda was particularly worried for her former animal companion Blu, hoping that he, Jewel and their three chicks hadn't been caught by the second group of thieves. Tulio was especially in agreement since he does not want that invaluable Spix macaw family stolen since the three chicks were very vulnerable and could be seriously injured or even killed. Their adoptive son Fernando was seriously puzzled as to how the second group of smugglers were established. Being a former smuggler himself, Fernando had seen what conditions stolen birds were often put through before they were taken out of the country, as Marcel, his former boss and leader of the first group of smugglers (who was now in jail), often stuffed birds into cages. Now Tulio and Linda's adopted son and bird caretaker, Fernando was helping out at Tulio's Aviary. Several hours after dawn, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake, Jake and Francisco returned to the Aviary with empty hands. They were unable to find Susan's missing pets or the other four Spix macaws that were captured and brought to the Aviary before Susan brought her four Spix macaws Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine along for consecration purposes. As Francisco and the other five arrived back at the Aviary, Tulio asked them have they found the pets and the other four Spix macaws. Francisco shook his head sadly. If the eight Spix macaws aren't found, then the whole conservation project was in jeopardy. While the group was talking, Jack, Jill and one of the cats Cayfutray came walking by. Jack and Jill were only very young teenagers, slightly younger than Fernando. They had decided to go for a walk to escape the stresses back at the smugglers' base. When Cayfutray heard Tulio in the distance mention the Spix macaws and recognised the birds that she, Jack, Jill and some other cats had stolen last night, she alerted Jack and Jill. Jack and Jill looked in the direction Cayfutray was pointing.

"Hey, aren't those the birds we stole from that Aviary?" Jack asked quietly.

"Then how did they escape?" inquired Jill. Jack then thought when he heard Francisco mention the whereabouts of the thieves' lair. A thought about Susan's pets (especially the Spix macaws and Opal the harlequin macaw) came to his mind as he assumed that they must be back at the lair.

"We'll have to help them," said Jack, "Since I don't see any of the blue macaws among that group of birds we kidnapped last night, I assume that they had failed to escape."

"But we're the ones who took them," said Jill hesitantly, "shouldn't we admit that?"

"We don't have a choice, sis," replied Jack, "We've caused those pets' owners a lot of stress just by taking them. Come on."

And with that the twins and Cayfutray ran up to Francisco and the group. As soon as they were close to the group, Linda spotted them.

"What do you two want?" she asked with a frown. Then she saw Cayfutray and scowled.

"Don't you realise that cats are not allowed anywhere near these birds?" she said sternly, "take that cat away before it frightens these birds."

"Ma'am," said Jack, "I want to speak to whoever's in charge here."

"It's about the stolen pets of someone," put in Jill. When Linda heard this, she called Tulio. Tulio walked over to the twins.

"Do you know where Susan's pets and the Spix macaws are?" he asked. Jack, Jill and Cayfutray nodded together. When Susan heard Tulio ask the question and saw the trio nod, she ran over to the twins and showed them the poster.

"Have you seen these animals?" she asked. Jack and Jill looked at the nine macaws, cat and greyhound in the picture. Cayfutray recognised the cat she had attacked last night as he was setting the birds free before she caught and imprisoned him.

"Yes we have," replied Jack almost instantly, "We also know where we found them."

"Do you know where the new group of thieves' lair is?" asked Francisco.

"Yes, and we think they are still back there," replied Jill, "and that they failed to escape unlike those birds did. Do you want us to take you there?"

Susan looked hopefully at Francisco and Tulio. Lucy, Blake, Jake and Drake had also come over with hope that Jack and Jill knew where the pets were. Francisco thought. After thinking, he finally said, "It's a good idea, actually. If those pets are still back at the lair, then the thieves will be there too."

Then he said to Jack and Jill, "Take us there immediately!"

Jack and Jill nodded and ran off with Cayfutray following. Francisco, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake, Fernando and Linda followed. Tulio decided to remain behind to keep an eye on the birds.

"If you find those Spix macaws, let me know," Tulio called Francisco. "Also take extreme care not to let the thieves know you're there, and make note of its location!"

"We will!" Francisco called back as he and the others with him disappeared down the street. Tulio then turned his attention back to helping his assistants tend to the birds. At this very moment, the remaining four thieves and cats were awake. Frank was extremely angry to hear from Luke, Marvin and Vera that the birds have escaped last night.

"ESCAPED!?" he cried at the top of his voice, "What do you mean they've escaped?"

"It's true, boss," explained Marvin timidly, "We tried to catch them but they managed to get away."

"They must be very smart or something," added Luke, "Or that cat that was not ours and the greyhound must have somehow managed to find a way to set the birds free."

"Birds and other animals aren't that smart, you imbacile," snapped Vera in Luke's face while firmly tapping him in the chest with an index finger. "How can they simply figure out a way to unlock cage doors and just fly out?"

"I don't know," replied Luke, "It's just a theory."

Then Frank began to stomp around in frustration and slammed his hand hard on the table. The resulting loud thud startleed the cats, including Brutus. Brutus was especially enraged to have been outsmarted by the birds, Veggie and Dash last night and was determined to get them back and re-caged.

"Oh, great," snarled Frank, "Now we're gonna have to catch them all over again, and it's gonna be a nightmare, especially them Spix macaws!"

"With thirteen to find," said Marvin, "Definitely."

"How are we going to catch them?" asked Vera. Frank turned and looked at her with a frown and called Brutus over. Brutus obediently jumped onto the table and sat in front of Frank.

"Our cats will do that task," said Frank casually. "They are capable of completing the most difficult tasks we ourselves sometimes struggle with."

"But wouldn't that cockatoo that Marcel had help our cats with such tasks?" asked Luke, "He could search from the air while they search on the ground. And besides, he was extremely intelligent and could solve problems really easily."

"It would have been a possibility if we still had him, Luke," replied Frank, "but we don't know what's happened to him. For all I know he must have been killed. So it's going to be up to the cats led by Brutus here to work together and find those birds on their own. I'm sure they'll be able to capture and bring those birds to us without the help of that cockatoo."

"Surely they can," said Vera with a smile. Then Frank frowned again and said, "But I hope we can get those re-caged birds to the airport by the time Carnival arrives since it's going to be a (bleep)in' nightmare with the traffic. You understand why, don't you?"

Luke, Vera and Marvin nodded.

"And to add," Frank continued, "I want all thirteen of those Spix macaws, including that family of five, captured and caged with the lot, since they are the last blue macaws on this planet, and I don't want any of them left uncaptured."

His three associates and cats all nodded again. Then Frank turned to Brutus and commanded, "Brutus, I want you to take your group out into Rio and spread out. Search all over the city and find as many birds as you can. Make sure you find the thirteen Spix macaws, including the family of five, in the process and bring them back to me caged and alive. Make sure you get the task done by Carnival time. Is that clear?"

Brutus meowed loudly in understanding. Then he jumped off the table and told the other cats what Frank told him. Then after he had explained everything, Brutus and the other cats gathered together and jumped out of the window and to outside to carry out the task Frank assigned to them. After the four humans saw the cats leave, Frank turned and saw two large trucks driving towards the lair. They were old trucks and their windscreen had a large hole in it. Frank smiled with glee.

"I know," he said to Vera, Luke and Marvin, "if our cats don't make it back to us in time with their catch, we'll have to be participants in the Carnival with our own floats, just like Marcel and his associates did when they took their catch to the airport. What do you think?"

"It's a good idea," said Luke with a gleeful smile.

"Yeah," agreed Marvin.

"Therefore, no-one will see us and our loot," said Vera with a smile. Frank smiled and said, "Then let's set to it."

The other three humans cheered and left to outside via a door to have a look at the two trucks.

In the jungle, Cytosine and his group were also awake and were back on the ground. Veggie and Dash were with them having spent the night in a hole in the ground at the foot of the tree the birds slept in. Now the casualties were having their sprains assessed. Guanine, Thymine, Adenine, Madison, Breezy, Sapphire and Emerald were having their sprains checked out while Opal was having her scratch assessed Dash. Dash had removed the makeshift leaf bandage and was checking the scratch down Opal's flank.

"Looks like the wound has formed a clot, Opal," said Dash with a smile, glad that the scratch has stopped bleeding. "But I can't examine it properly myself for I am not a medical expert. I'd rather have you back at Tulio's Aviary to be properly assessed by the experts."

"Good job the cat that scratched me didn't inflict the wound too deep," said Opal with relief, "Otherwise it would have been much worse."

"You'd have required medical attention really fast," said Veggie equally relieved, "Just consider yourself lucky it wasn't much more serious."

Opal nodded. Beside her, Jasper was examining Emerald's wing and Cytosine was asking his siblings Thymine, Guanine and Adenine how much their chest muscles were in pain. Zephyr was also checking over Breezy while Madison was checking over herself. Cobalt was walking around making sure the rest of the group was alright. Ruby was testing Sapphire's right wing, the one that had been sprained.

"You sure it's not in agony?" asked Ruby.

"It doesn't feel dislocated," replied Sapphire, "It's just my wing that's hurt. It's okay when I am not flying but when I do try to fly, pain just rushes through it and makes me want to drop back onto the ground again."

Ruby then began to feel along the bones of Sapphire's wing until Sapphire gasped in pain. The sprain was in the humerus area, the equivalent to the upper arm in humans.

"It must have been pulled when those cats forcefully stuffed you into that little cage," explained Ruby, "I just hope it's not torn."

"I hope not," moaned Sapphire. Then Ruby turned and asked the other birds, Veggie and Dash about the other casualties' injuries.

"Not that bad," replied Dash, "Opal's scratch has clotted over but it is still quite raw."

"And as for the sprains Guanine, Thymine, Adenine, Madison and Breezy are suffering are in the chest area where the flight muscles are," said Cytosine.

"But Emerald's is not as bad," added Jasper.

"Yeah, it's just possibly a pulled muscle," said Emerald in agreement. Then Guanine spoke up and said, "However, we cannot fly at all. Every time we try to do so, the pain just makes us want to fall back to earth again."

Then Zephyr gave a snort of frustration.

"Then how are Breezy and I going to return to the rainforest if Breezy can't fly?" he muttered.

"I can't fly with this wing if it hurts," groaned Breezy.

"There is only one proper way Breezy can be healed of her sprain," said Cytosine, "and the same will apply to Madison."

Madison, at this, looked at Cytosine with a scowl.

"How?" enquired Zephyr.

"We're going to have to take her, Madison and my siblings back to Tulio's Aviary to get them properly examined and cared for," replied Cytosine. "Sapphire, Emerald and Opal will also need to be examined."

At this, Zephyr laughed in mockery.

"Oh you mean those two legged friends of yours back at that place?" he scoffed, "You've got to be joking, Cytobeen!"

"It's Cytosine," said Cytosine sharply.

"Whatever," replied Zephyr in a mocking manner.

"You pets sure love your place in the humans world don't you," mulled Madison in a sneering tone of voice. Then Cobalt came up and said to Cytosine, "We would rather not go back to that place, to be honest, lad. Remember what those ornithologists tried to put us through."

"They tried to get us into having chicks when we weren't ready!" snarled Madison, "especially when they tried to get us to pair up with a bunch of pets!"

"They were only trying to save the Spix macaw species," snapped Veggie.

"You keep your nose out of it, feline rat, or I'll claw ya nose off!" retorted Madison. Veggie flinched in shock at the long head feathered macaw's attitude, so he walked off in disgust and went to Dash's side.

"What a ghastly blue macaw despite her appearance," he snorted under his breath as he went.

"They want us to reproduce all in the name of saving a species," muttered Cobalt, "That's the problem with those conservationists. Don't you see that, Cytosine?"

"That's why we absolutely refused to breed ourselves for all the time we were in that miserable place," added Zephyr, "Especially Madison. We just simply kept each other's distance and did nothing, except when I tried tugging at that metal barred thing over an airway in the hopes of us four escaping."

Madison sighed in agreement.

"Expectation of chicks or not," put in Breezy, "those wretched humans weren't gonna have it, so we gave them the cold shoulder and deliberately disappointed them by not doing what they wanted us to do."

"And when YOU four were discovered and brought here," added Cobalt, "We were at first confused as to why they had put four more of our species into that habitat."

"Habitat?" inquired Madison.

"It's what the ornithologists called it, Madison," replied Cobalt. Madison just shook her head in disgust as Cobalt turned back to Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine and continued, "But then it all became clear when we showed you how we were going to escape when you hinted at mating and having chicks when we have only just met seconds ago. No wonder Zephyr, Madison and Breezy were enraged, as was I. What I'm trying to say is, you four, we are not ready to be parents yet."

"Maybe sometime in the future," said Jasper.

"And besides," put in Opal, "We've heard of another pair of macaws called Blu and Jewel who have had chicks. They had three, didn't they, Ruby?"

"Yes," replied Ruby. When Zephyr heard Opal mention Jewel, he popped his head up in wonder and hope.

"Jewel?" he said, "Is she alive?"

"What do you mean?" asked Guanine.

"She was the daughter of the leader of the Spix macaw flock in the Amazon Rainforest," explained Breezy slightly annoyed, "We were two of her childhood friends, but when a fire caused by them loggers tore through the jungle and separated me, Breezy, Mom and Dad from the tribe and drove us away from our home, we presumed the flock had not survived the inferno and that we were the last surviving Spix macaws left."

"But it seems that Jewel has survived that catastrophe as well but was separated from the flock like we were," continued Zephyr, "I just hope she's alright."

"We saw a picture of her in an article back home," said Dash.

"Don't tell me she's been mixing with humans, hasn't she?" moaned Breezy. Cobalt was about to say something when rustling was heard from a nearby bush. When the fifteen animals heard this, they became alert and suspicious. Ruby looked around with wide eyes; Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine and Adenine huddled together; Zephyr had his wings outstretched protectively across Breezy; Cobalt and Madison were alert; Jasper, Opal, Emerald and Sapphire were huddled together and Veggie and Dash had their ears and back hackles raised in suspicion.

"Oh, I hope those wretched cats haven't managed to find us," muttered Cobalt.

"I hope not," said Veggie, "I don't want you birds getting injured any further."

"Despite the fact that your kind naturally preys on us birds," said Zephyr with a scowl, "How is it that you care for us?"

"I'm a vegetarian," snapped Veggie slightly annoyed.

"That dog friend of yours is alright since he doesn't prey on birds like us but cats that don't-? I'm confused," said Madison. Veggie was about to answer when another bush rustled. The fifteen animals turned in that direction and Ruby stepped forward with wings spread out.

"Okay, buster," she said threateningly, "show yourself this minute or I'll pounce!"

There was no answer, however. The group began to get much tenser as another bush rustled from behind them. The thirteen birds, cat and greyhound whipped round and faced the direction of that bush, tension rising when suddenly… two very cute baby toucans and appeared and squeaked, along with a larger but still young toucan. All three had black feathers and orange and black beaks. Touched by the toucans' appearance, Ruby and her group went, "Aaaaawwww!"

The three toucans then flew over to the fifteen and animals and landed right into the wings of Cytosine, Cobalt and Ruby. Cytosine cradled his toucan while Thymine, Guanine and Adenine petted it. Cobalt was rubbing his beak against the baby toucan's he had while Zephyr, Madison and Breezy stroked it and Ruby was bobbing hers up and down. She passed it to Sapphire who took and held it. Emerald, Jasper and Opal petted the toucan. Then two more toucans identical in appearance to the first three appeared and flew over to the group. One allowed itself to be scooped up and petted by Dash while the other, to Veggie's surprised, nuzzled against his front legs.

"That's something we cats do to humans when we want affection," whispered Veggie with a smile and he patted the toucan chick on its head. However the fifteen animals were in for a serious shock. While Cytosine was cradling the toucan chick and hugging it, the chick suddenly took hold of his light blue bowtie in its beak, jumped out of Cytosine's wings and began to pull on it. Cytosine gasped as he was tugged forward by the toucan chick. Thymine began to rebuke the chick.

"Hey, stop that!" she scolded and grabbed the chick and yanked it off of Cytosine's bowtie. The chick responded by biting Thymine in the wing, making her screech and drop it. Then the chick smiled mischievously and jumped onto Thymine's back to jump up and down on her. Thymine squawked and began to shake the chick off her back. Cobalt looked on in wonder and before he knew it, the chick in his wings began to pull feathers out of his chest! Cobalt screeched and dropped it. The chick then turned to Madison and began pulling on her hair like feathers with its beak, making her scream and swipe at it with her wings to make it let go. Then another chick pounced onto Zephyr from behind and began pulling on his crest feathers. Zephyr screeched and began flapping around as Cytosine's chick (which was still jumping up and down on Thymine's back) sent Thymine tumbling and crashing into Breezy. The two females landed in a heap on the floor as Adenine and Guanine were set upon by two more chicks who began pulling on their head feathers and attire and sending them into a frenzy. While the Spix macaws were being attacked by about five chicks, Sapphire's toucan chick smiled mischievously while she was looking at the Spix macaws in wonder and took a beakful of navy blue feathers from her wing! Sapphire screeched and dropped the chick. Then the chick turned to Ruby and pounced onto her to rip some of her feathers out. Ruby screeched and tried to swipe the chick away but the chick refused to give up. Suddenly four more chicks appeared and pounced onto Sapphire, Opal, Emerald, Ruby and Jasper and began to cause them a lot of chaos and trouble. They snapped at their feet, ripped feathers out of them and tackled them in the torso to knock them about. Ruby and Sapphire were then sent toppling over Cobalt and Zephyr. Then it was Veggie and Dash's turn to be set upon by the toucan chicks. The chick that was nuzzling against Veggie then jumped onto the cat's back and began pulling at his ears. Veggie screeched and tried shaking the chick off of him but the chick refused to let go. Dash looked on in shock when the toucan chick he was petting suddenly jumped onto his back and began riding him like a horse. Dash howled in pain as the chick bit his ears and back and made him rear up on his hind legs, the chick posing like a cowboy on a horse. There were about thirteen toucan chicks attacking the group and they sent sending the eight Spix macaws, greyhound, cat, green-winged macaw, great green macaw, blue-and-gold macaw, harlequin macaw and hyacinth macaw wobbling about, bumping and tripping over each other and falling over by biting at their feet, ripping out feathers and riding on their backs. While the first thirteen toucan chicks (which all had black feathers, orange and black beaks and cream-red undersides) were causing havoc for the fifteen animals, three more chicks came rushing in with a long vine. The three new arrivals then flew around the fifteen animals while they were still being knocked about by the first thirteen and began to tangle them up with it. And then after the climax of the chaos, the fifteen animals all fell into a tangled heap with two toucan chicks smiling widely with mischief looking at them.

"NOOOOWWW!" cried the two chicks to something in the air. The thirteen macaws, Dash and Veggie looked up and screamed as another dozen toucan chicks swooped down on them. The twelve chicks, together with the first sixteen (including the three that set upon the group with the vine), began to attack, pelt and bite the fifteen animals into screaming and screeching, especially those with sprained wings. The commotion attracted the attention of a much older and larger toucan from a nearby hollow. It looked exactly like the chicks but its face mask and torso were white.

"Hey, what's going on?" it shouted in a raspy, masculine voice, for it was a male toucan. Then the adult toucan looked down and saw the enormous number of chicks assaulting Ruby, Cytosine and the others with them. At this the toucan flew out of the hollow and onto the ground.

"Hey, get off of them this minute," shouted the toucan angrily. All the chicks immediately jumped off Cytosine and Ruby's group and onto the toucan.

"Daddy, daddy, daddy!" cried the chicks.

"How many times have I told you lot not to assault strangers?" scolded the adult toucan. While he was being climbed upon by the well over twenty chicks, Ruby, Cytosine and the others began to sort themselves out. Cytosine bit through some of the vines wrapped around his wings and brushed them off. Ruby, Thymine and Sapphire did the same and began to help the others back onto their feet. While they were doing this, Emerald glared at the toucan chicks as he bit through some vines tied around Veggie and Dash's legs.

"Talk about serious parenting issues!" he snarled.

"Looks like he's got FAR too many chicks," said Cobalt as he brushed off more vines and held his sore chest where feathers were ripped out.

"How many chicks have you got?" asked Cytosine in shock. The toucan managed to answer the question through his struggles with the chicks.

"Twenty nine of them," he replied, "And three more on the way."

"Twenty NINE!?" screeched Veggie in serious shock.

"And three more on the-?" gasped Adenine.

"No wonder you're so overburdened!" gasped Ruby.

"That's definitely FAR too many," said Cobalt with narrowed eyes just as Madison was shaking her hair-like feathers of some vine. Then the toucan called, "Hey, you two! What have I told you about your unhatched siblings not being maracas? Will you put that egg back into the nest this MINUTE!"

Ruby and the others looked up and saw two of the chicks holding an egg. They were two of the bigger chicks due to them being older than some of their siblings. They innocently smiled did as they were told, before flying away.

"How are you going to discipline all those offspring of yours?" asked Zephyr in shock.

"Especially those that keep tearing feathers out of other birds," put in Emerald.

"If you don't spank them," put in Opal, "those chicks are going to be a serious problem for the other birds because they will tear out their feathers too."

The adult toucan brushed off some of the other chicks and smiled.

"I'll discipline them when I am ready," he replied.

"Well make sure you DO AS SOON AS POSSIBLE or they'll grow up into right troublemakers," shouted Madison.

"And from what I can tell from some of the bigger chicks," added Adenine, "It looks like they still have some bad habits to correct."

Then the toucan groaned and said, "Oh, you know, it's hard being a father. These chicks are giving me grey feathers, honestly. This papa needs a break."

"But can't you get babysitters to look after some of your offspring?" asked Cytosine, "We can plainly see you've got seriously too many to take care of."

"Yeah, caring for 32 offspring is too much of a task for two parents," said Thymine. Then the toucan looked up and examined the eight Spix macaws closely.

"Whoa," he said in shock, "Are you eight blue macaws? I thought Blu, Jewel and their three chicks were the last blue macaws on the planet."

"Not anymore," said Cytosine with a smile.

"Blu and Jewel are gonna be shocked to see you eight," said the toucan. Then he examined Ruby, Sapphire, Opal, Jasper and Emerald and said, "I know there are green-winged, blue-and-gold and great green macaws that live here, but I've never known a hyacinth macaw live as north as here. Look how tall that bird is."

The other birds, Veggie and Dash looked at Sapphire. It was true. Sapphire practically towered over the other macaws and was nearly twice the height of Cobalt, the tallest of the eight Spix macaws. Then the toucan eyed Opal and asked, "What kind of macaw is that? I've never seen a macaw like that one before."

"I'm a blue-and-gold/green-winged hybrid," replied Opal, "My 'species' is not found in nature."

"I see," said the toucan with a smile and then he eyed Veggie and Dash and frowned.

"And why have you got one of those revolting felines with you?" he asked when he looked at Veggie.

"He's a harmless, vegetarian cat," replied Cytosine, "He's never eaten a bird in his life."

"But he could still be dangerous," replied the toucan with a scowl.

"Cats and birds got on perfectly well before Adam sinned against God," said Veggie, "but now we live in a time after Adam's sin against God, that has changed, but that's not to say that ALL cats are carnivorous."

The toucan shook his head in confusion.

"Believe us, he's harmless," said Ruby. The toucan reluctantly agreed. Then he asked them another question.

"So, are you lot here for Carnival, especially you four pairs of blue love birds?" he asked. When Zephyr, Madison, Breezy, Cobalt, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine heard this, they shook their heads in shock and disgust.

"Did you just call us 'lovebirds'?" snarled Zephyr.

"More like acquaintances," replied Cytosine.

"We're not acquaintances, human's pet," snapped Madison with a hard nudge.

"They're not lovebirds," said Veggie, "They're macaws. Lovebirds are a diff… MEEEAAAOOOW!"

Veggie felt sharp pain shoot through his right back leg as a ripping sound was heard. At this he turned to see one of the toucan chicks grin at him with some fur in its beak and leave. Jasper lost patience.

"Oh these chicks of yours are toerags, honestly," he said to the toucan as he began chasing the chick.

"Get back here you; I'm gonna smack your backside."

The chick sniggered mischievously and flew off. Veggie glared at the toucan and said, "Why does that chick and perhaps some of the other offspring of yours seem to tear feathers and fur out of other animals?"

"I don't know, but we're having him tested," said the toucan with a smile.

"Well make sure you do please otherwise he could do the same to other birds!" snapped Madison.

"I said I'll discipline him when I'm ready, ma'am. Didn't you hear?" retorted the toucan annoyed. Madison just narrowed her eyes. Then the toucan softened again and asked, "So, what problem do you folks have? What can Rafael do for you?"

"Well, we have just escaped from a group of smugglers last night," explained Cytosine. When the toucan named Rafael heard this, he shook his head in shock.

"Excuse me?" he said wondering, "Did you say 'smugglers'?"

"Yes," replied Cytosine.

"I-I thought the smugglers have been caught and imprisoned," said Rafael in disbelief, "How can there be another group?"

"It's true, erm… is Rafael your name?" asked Veggie. Rafael nodded.

"It's true. This time there are cats assisting them," explained Veggie, "and they're seriously after these birds, especially these eight Spix macaws and possibly Blu and his family as well."

"But this place has been set up as a sanctuary," replied Rafael, "There can't possibly be another group of smugglers. Anyway, back to what I was asking. What do you want me to do for you?"

Just then Jasper came puffing and panting back from his pursuit of the chick that had ripped some of Veggie's fur out of his right back leg, having given up catching him, and collapsed beside Dash. Then Cytosine began to explain the group's situation to Rafael.

"So yes, we were taken by this second group of smugglers that had these cats, but we managed to set the other birds free and escape ourselves into the jungle. However, we're lost, and we would like to find our way down to the city of Rio so that we can get back to Tulio's Aviary so that some of us can get medical attention."

Cytosine then pointed to Thymine, Adenine, Guanine, Madison, Breezy, Sapphire, Emerald and Opal and continued, "These birds have been injured by the rough and uncaring handling of those humans and cats; especially the cats. All of them except Opal have wing or wing muscle sprains and as a result, they cannot fly at all."

"And every time we try to do," interjected Breezy, "Shooting pain rushes through our wing or our wing muscles and we are forced to drop to the ground."

"So in other words," continued Cytosine, "flying is too painful for them. As for Opal, she suffered a scratch down her flank inflicted by one of the cats during a skirmish. It's clotted over now but she cannot fly either due to pain from the injury. Since the remaining five of us can fly…"

He pointed to himself, Zephyr, Ruby, Jasper and Cobalt and added, "We are unable to carry them all at once back to Tulio's Aviary because we don't want to leave any of them behind should those smugglers' cats find and re-cage them. Are you able to escort us through Rio and back to Tulio's Aviary?"

Rafael listened intently and then smiled.

"Don't worry, Rafael knows Rio at the back of his wings, and Rafael will be more than happy to escort you guys through the city," he said gladly. He then turned to check on the kids, who were just playing and then back to Cytosine and his group.

"Well, I'm glad there's a bird to help us out," said Cobalt with a smile, "then let's go."

"But wait a minute, are you saying that some of you can't fly?" asked Rafael.

"No due to wing sprains," said Cytosine. Then Rafael remembered something.

"I remember a blue macaw who did not fly at all," he said, "but he did not have a wing injury. That was Blu when I first met him while he was chained to Jewel."

"What," said Adenine in shock, "Blu didn't fly at all?"

"And he was chained to Jewel?" gasped Dash. Veggie frowned.

"There's something about the way those smugglers treat animals," he said.

"What's that?" asked Guanine.

"Their cruelty seems to know no bounds," said Veggie. Then Rafael shook his head in response to Adenine's question.

"No, he never did feel the rhythm in his heart until I heard he had learned to fly," said Rafael.

"The rhythm of the heart?" asked Ruby.

"It's an internal beat that we birds feel, red lady," replied Rafael.

"My name's Ruby," said Ruby.

"Ruby then," said Rafael, "and it's what makes us want to dance to samba and fly…"

"But we just do it," said Adenine, "I don't understand how an internal rhythm contributes to flight…"

"It's complicated, laddie," said Rafael to Adenine, "but it's what we birds feel."

"Do bats have it as well?" asked Cytosine. Then Zephyr interrupted and said, "Well, I feel it's time we left. I really want my sister Breezy checked up so that we can go back into the jungle."

"But what about us?" asked Cytosine.

"We don't have time for pesky pets," replied Breezy condescendingly.

"Will you just stop treating them as inferior," said Cobalt. Breezy just sighed annoyed. Then Rafael smiled and said, "Well, if you're itching to go, then let's leave!"

But before he could take a step from his hollow, a feminine voice said, "Oi, where do you think you're going?"

Rafael, at this, stopped and turned to see his mate come walking over to him with a suspicious look on her face. This toucan had a lime green beak with a magenta tip, magenta eyelids and a reddish underbelly. Rafael smiled and said, "Ah, Eva, I have to take these birds, bizarre cat and greyhound and escort them through Rio back to where they want to be."

"Huh," huffed Eva grumpily, "You don't fool me for a second. You just wanna take those amigos of yours and sneak off to Carnival again."

"What's 'amigo'?" Adenine asked in a whisper.

"It's Brazilian Portuguese for 'friend', pet," answered Madison brattishly. Then Rafael smiled and put his wings around Eva, saying, "Ah, Carnival, the sweetest, most romantic, loveliest place where we both met…"

As Rafael nuzzled against his wife and stroked a wing across her beak lovingly, Cytosine, Adenine, Thymine and Guanine smiled, thinking, "Aawww…"

Cobalt, Zephyr, Breezy and Madison, however, had the opposite reaction and huffed in disgust. Ruby, Jasper, Sapphire, Emerald, Opal, Veggie and Dash smiled as they looked on.

"Looks like they're twitterpatted," cooed Jasper when Zephyr harshly elbowed him in the flank.

"Ow!" said Jasper and he held his flank.

"You were soooo… beautiful and your voice sooo… elaborate," cooed Rafael romantically. Then he began to sing a line before telling Eva to sing one herself. Eva did so but she had a terrible singing voice. She screeched so loudly that Cytosine and his group winced and covered their ears. Then Eva let loose a high note and sent vibrations coursing through Cytosine and his group's heads.

"Just like in the sweet moonlight, baby," Rafael cooed romantically. Cytosine and the others with him groaned as their ears rang.

"That would have shattered a wineglass if we had one," said Veggie as he rubbed his ears.

"Call that singing?" asked Breezy.

"Huh, if Rafael needs some lessons in discipline, SHE needs lessons in singing," muttered Cobalt.

"I hope none of her daughters have inherited her awful singing voice," said Ruby. Then Rafael gave Eva a huge passionate kiss.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," moaned Madison in disgust. Ruby then looked up and saw the crowd of Rafael and Eva's chicks cover their faces and go "Eeeeeewwww…"

"Looks like that group of mischievous chicks find THAT revolting," she said, pointing to Rafael and Eva kissing. Then after breaking the kiss, Eva let Rafael go.

"See you, my sweet pineapple," said Rafael.

"I'll miss you, my handsome coconut," said Eva. Then Eva turned and began to see to the kids.

"Kids, where are you?" she said and then she found them perched on as high branch. While she was doing this, Rafael left with Cytosine and his group.

"How is Eva goings to manage with those twenty-something kids all by herself," asked Ruby.

"Well, Ruby," said Rafael with a wing around her shoulder's, "She's quite a skilful mother and our kids are afraid of her…"

"Maybe SHE should be the one to discipline the kids, especially those feather pluckers," said Cobalt sharply.

"When we're ready, amigo," said Rafael with a smile. Then he turned and saw Eva struggling to restrain some of older toucan chicks from playing roughly with the younger siblings. Rafael shrugged and said, "Ah, let's get a move on before she notices me."

And with that he jumped between Cytosine and Zephyr and put his wings around their backs. Then he walked off with the group. Veggie and Opal looked back at the toucan kids with a slight frown but Rafael put his wings on their cheeks and turned their heads in the direction they were walking in.

"No, don't look back, kitty cat and unusual macaw," he said, "You'll frighten the kids. They sense fear, you know."

"I hope Eva's going to be alright," said Veggie, "She looks like she's got wing-ful."

"Ah, she'll be fine, kitty cat," said Rafael convincingly. Then he walked off with the group down the route that led to Rio.

**Wow, can you imagine Rafael and Eva having 32 kids? Such a number would be seriously burdensome (even though this is just a fanfiction). Anyway, stay tuned for chapter 8.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8- Meet Blu and Jewel, Cobalt's shocking secret revelation**

Back in the city of Rio, Francisco, Blake, Drake, Jake, Susan, Lucy, Linda and Fernando were still following Jack and Jill and their cat Cayfutray to the smugglers' hideout. The group had got into Francisco's jeep and were now heading there under Jack and Jill's guidance. However they were stuck in a traffic jam as several roads were being closed off for Carnival. Francisco was quite worried.

"I don't think we're going to get very far, folks," he said as he saw two security people place some bright orange and white cones down to close a road, "The process of closing the roads has already begun."

"Oh, great, how are we going to find our pets now?" moaned Susan.

"Just be patient, Susan," said Linda. Then she had a thought about her former pet Blu.

"I hope my big brave boy's not been caught by the new team of smugglers," she said with a worried sigh.

"I doubt it, Mom," Fernando assured her, "him and Jewel are in the forest raising their three chicks. I'm sure they're safe."

"I hope so," said Linda. Then Jack and Jill had an idea.

"I think it would be easier if we went on foot," they said.

"What?" gasped Blake.

"But it may be too far," said Jake.

"It may take too long to get where you want us to be," said Lucy.

"It's true," said Francisco, "I'm afraid it would take too long on foot, you two."

Jack and Jill sighed disappointed at this response. Then Fernando had a thought.

"There must be a quick way," he said. "I can't use a motorcycle like last time because there's too many of us."

"Unless we can hire two or more motorcycles," replied Francisco, "Therefore we can get there quicker, because the sooner we get to that place, the sooner we can rescue Susan and Lucy and their cousins' pets, and the sooner we can uncover the whereabouts of the smugglers' hideout."

Then Jack saw a road that has not yet been closed off.

"Wait, I think we can still use that road to get to the smugglers' place," he said. When Francisco saw this, he steered the jeep out into the road and drove to the turnoff. Then he turned right down that road before any of the security people were about to lay some cones down to block off that road as well. As soon as they were on the road Jack wanted them to go on, Francisco asked, "Right, young man, where to next?"

"Down there," said Jack immediately and Francisco spun the steering wheel to the right. The violent turning threw the rest of the humans to the left of the vehicle like dolls in a box. Cayfutray was nearly flattened by Fernando and jumped out of his way onto Linda's back just in time.

"Whoa," cried Linda as Blake bumped into her, "Careful, Francisco!"

"Sorry, guys," said Francisco apologetically, "But I'm itching to be there as fast as I can. Hang on!"

Then Jack gave another direction and Francisco followed that. The other humans in the jeep began to hang on like mad for the wild ride while Cayfutray began to jump about the vehicle to avoid being squashed by the thrown about humans. While Francisco was driving down the street following Jack's directions, a small group of cats had sneaked out of an alley, having successfully caught some small house finches. They were one of the subgroups of Frank's cats scouting around the city for birds and have captured a flock of house finches and have caged them. Leading the subgroup was a black and white tom named Otis. On their way into the city prior to splitting up, the cats have snaffled some mobile phones from unsuspecting passers-by so that they could contact each other to check up on each other's efforts and wellbeing. Brutus and his gang were much more cunning even than Mauro and his marmoset gang. They were sneaky, agile, astute and stealthy, and were very good at avoiding suspicion and sneaking past unsuspecting passers-by. They were also good at sneaking upon birds and catching them by surprise. Even without the psychopathic cockatoo Nigel among them, Brutus and his gang of cats were still capable of stealth. Brutus himself was a very intelligent cat, capable of outsmarting most birds, though probably not as effectively as Nigel. However he was still a foe difficult to outsmart by most birds. The other cats were more average but together they were sneaky force and formidable gang. As soon as Otis and his subgroup have caged the hapless house finches (including the extremely timid Tiny, who was a coward and would rather not fight these cunning felines), took out his stolen mobile phone (called a cellphone in America) and contacted Brutus. Somewhere else in the city, Brutus and his subgroup were stuffing several parakeets into cages in a secluded place where humans could not see them or dogs could not smell them when their stolen mobile phone rang. Brutus picked it up and answered it.

"Hello, oh, hi Otis, how are you and your group doing?" he asked.

"Okay, thanks," said Otis with a crafty smile, "We just caught some house finches."

"Oh, good," said Brutus, "We just caught some parakeets and we're just caging them."

"Have you caught any of the Spix macaws yet?" asked Otis.

"No, we haven't," replied Brutus, "I don't know where those goldmine birds are, but make sure you keep an eye out for any of them and contact me when you find them, okay, because we must catch those thirteen blue macaws. Anyway, I've gotta go and help my group-mates. Some of the parakeets are fighting back. See you."

"See ya," said Otis and with that the two cats hung up and put their stolen phones away. As Otis did this, one of the green finches (named Tiny), managed to slip out of one of the cat (an orange, brown and white one)'s paws.

"Eek, cats!" cried Tiny in her squeaky voice, "I hate cats! Aaaaa!"

She squealed as Otis grabbed her in a paw. He then squeezed her like a squeeze toy, making her eyes bulge out like grapes.

"Don't you dare escape little bird," hissed Otis sadistically, "or I'll eat ya!"

"Oh, oh, oooh, you don't wanna eat me," muttered Tiny. Then Otis licked his lips.

"If I do consume you, little bird," said Otis oily, "Would you taste like chicken… or fish?"

Tiny mumbled and whimpered as Otis squeezed her again.

"Oh pleeeeaaase, puddy tat," she squeaked, "Don't eat me."

"If you will co-operate," said Otis with a change of voice tone to a more serious one, "then I won't eat you, but if you don't…" he began to speak in a more threatening tone, "I will be havin' one little green bird imprisoned… in my belly! Is that clear?"

Tiny timidly nodded and with that Otis tossed her back into the cage with the other finches. The white, orange and brown cat then slammed the cage door shut. Otis then walked up to the finches and smiled evilly at them.

"Now that we've got you little birdies caged," he said, "It's time to take you to our secret place.

And with that he walked off, leaving the terrified finches to look out of their cage as two cats began carrying them to leave the area. Meanwhile, back in the jungle, Rafael was talking with Cytosine and his group and asking them how they got here to Rio. The group had already introduced themselves.

"Well, our owners were reading an article about the Spix macaw when one of them spotted Blu and his family in the photo," explained Cytosine.

"Oh, really?" said Rafael with a smile.

"Yes, and we found that I, Cytosine, Guanine and Adenine looked just like them," said Thymine, "We had similar beak shape and colour, facial markings and blue feathers. Then our owner Susan contacted Tulio via Facebook with a picture of us and he replied that we are Spix macaws and that we're to be transported to Rio."

"And that's when we heard about these four," added Guanine, pointing to Zephyr, Breezy, Cobalt and Madison, who looked at her with scowls on their faces. "I ought not to go on any further because of the attitude of them."

"Oh, please don't ever mention that," muttered Adenine, fearing another attack from Madison, "We don't wanna be attacked again."

Then he eyed Madison timidly, who smiled condescendingly.

"We'll see about that, human's bird," she said in an intimidating tone of voice to intentionally frighten Adenine. Veggie scowled her but Madison was unmoved by the vegetarian cat's rebuking scowl. Then Ruby continued, "So yeah, Cytosine and his siblings were brought here for conservation purposes because of the rarity of their species."

"I knew they'd have to be brought here because if their species is on the brink of extinction…" said Jasper. Then he looked at Zephyr, Breezy, Madison and Cobalt who were staring at him. Wary of their attitude toward reproduction for the sake of conservation, Jasper began to whisper to Rafael.

"…then they're highly valuable for ornithologists," finished Jasper with a wing over his beak while saying this to Rafael close to his face.

"I'm well aware of how rare the Spix macaw is, Jasper," replied Rafael, "Blu and Jewel were the very last blue macaws known on earth."

"I wonder what it's like to be the last of one's kind in the whole world," pondered Sapphire.

"That was the case with the two of every sort of animal when they came off Noah's Ark with Noah and his three sons, three daughters-in-law and wife," said Dash. "All the other animals and humans were destroyed in a global Flood sent by God because the whole world was evil."

"I've never heard of that story," said Rafael, "So I don't know."

"Our owners are Christians," explained Sapphire, "and because they study these Bible stories, we are familiar with them."

"Interesting," said Rafael with a smile. Then Veggie came up with a serious look on his face.

"And there's something very important you need to know about the second group of smugglers and their cats, Rafael," he said severely, "I've a dreadful feeling that they will be after Blu and his family as well as these eight Spix macaws and will stop at nothing to get their hands and paws on them."

"And since they are the last thirteen Spix macaws alive," put in Emerald, "they will be worth a huge sum of money each in the eyes of the smugglers."

"And their chicks might not survive being smuggled out of Brazil," added Opal, "so it's important that they are protected."

"Right, I believe you," said Rafael convinced. Then Veggie looked at Ruby and Cytosine and said, "And another thing, those cats will have been sent out by their owners to search for as many birds as possible, including our friends here. If they find us…"

"Thanks for the warning, Veggie cat," replied Rafael, "I'll make sure Eva and our kids are protected and safe."

"Tch, with that many chicks," muttered Cobalt, "It's going to be a seriously tough task."

"Don't you have any other toucans who could help you?" asked Breezy.

"I don't know," replied Rafael, "But I just wanna make sure that our thirty two kids including the three unhatched ones are safe and sound, away from the claws of those cats. They and my sweetheart Eva have been lucky when I was caught and almost smuggled out of Brazil."

"You were caught before?" gasped Cytosine.

"We were trying to rescue Jewel from the parade," explained Rafael, "but when we got to the weird chicken float where we found her, we tried to set her free but that brutish cockatoo intervened and forcibly tossed me, Nico and Pedro into a cage before Blu managed to appear."

"Nico and Pedro?" inquired Cytosine.

"They're friends of mine," explained Rafael, "and that samba club duo."

"Wait a minute, are these two birds the ones we met on the way to meeting Zephyr, Cobalt, Breezy and Madison," asked Adenine.

"They must be," said Guanine.

"They initially thought WE were Blu and Jewel," said Thymine, "because of our appearance."

Rafael looked closely at Cytosine and Thymine and shook his head.

"Nah, you don't look anywhere near like Blu and Jewel at all," he said, "You don't have a fluffy neck (to Cytosine) and your feathers are too bright a blue (to Thymine)."

While he was talking with Cytosine and Thymine, Opal saw something in the distance. They were two blue forms and three smaller forms. At this she said, "Rafael, what are those birds over there?"

Rafael looked into the distance and saw the five blue forms. At this, he called, "Hey, hey!" and flew off to intercept them. Cytosine and his group frowned as he flew off.

"Looks like he knows them," said Zephyr. Then he squinted into the distance to better make out the five forms. In the distance, Rafael was talking with two of the five forms and then after a while, he came back to them. The five forms then morphed into view and Ruby immediately recognised them from the same picture she and her group saw in the Spix macaw article. Zephyr and Breezy also recognised the larger lighter blue form.

"We don't know who that darker blue bird is," said Zephyr, "but we know the lighter blue bird, That's Jewel, the daughter of our tribe leader I told you about."

Cobalt and Madison looked at the five blue macaw forms chatting with Rafael.

"We don't know those two," said Cobalt. Then Madison saw the three smaller forms, which were Blu and Jewel's chicks.

"Those three must be their offspring," she said, pointing to them, "I've never seen a Spix macaw chick since I and some of my relatives were captured to be sold as pets."

While she was speaking, Rafael introduced Blu, Jewel and their three chicks to Ruby and her group. Blu and Jewel were seriously shocked to see eight more macaws like them and their chicks but Jewel recognised Zephyr and Breezy out of the eight, so she dashed to them and hugged them.

"Oh, Jewel, you're alright!" cried Zephyr joyfully.

"We didn't think you survived that fiery catastrophe," added Breezy.

"I didn't expect you two to have survived that disaster either," sobbed Jewel emotionally, "I thought I was the only one left alive while everyone else died in that fire…"

Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine were touched by the moment of reunion. Cobalt, Madison, Ruby, Opal, Sapphire, Emerald, Jasper, Dash and Veggie also smiled. Then one of Blu and Jewel's chicks pulled on Cytosine's tail. Cytosine turned round and knelt down to get a closer look at the chick. Blu and Jewel's chicks were still very young, and their distinguishing features were still underdeveloped. Other than their feather colour and eyes, all three looked identical in shape and appearance. The chick that was jumping up and down in front of Cytosine was cyan coloured with hazel eyes. Cytosine was captivated by the chick's cuteness.

"Hey, little one," he said sweetly, "What do you want?"

Just then its father called, "Bia, could you come away from that blue macaw please? Remember what we told you about approaching strangers."

Then the chick, named Bia, chirped and hopped back to Blu's side. Cytosine smiled. Then Jewel broke the embrace with Breezy and Zephyr. Then Zephyr turned to Blu and asked, "Who's this?"

"This is my mate Blu," replied Jewel and with that Blu shook wings with Zephyr. Breezy did the same. Then Rafael came up and said, "Well, I think you lot should properly introduce each other."

And with that he stepped aside so that Ruby and her group could introduce themselves properly to Blu and Jewel. Ruby introduced herself first and shook wings with Blu and Jewel. Then Sapphire introduced herself, followed by Emerald, Jasper, Opal, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Cobalt and then Madison. When Madison shook wings with Jewel, Jewel suddenly stared at her for some reason with wide eyes.

"What is it?" asked Madison slightly surprised. Jewel then shrugged off the odd feeling.

"Nothing," she replied, denying the problem, "Just a bit shocked that there are more us, that's all."

Madison raised an eyebrow but when it was Veggie's turn to introduce himself, Blu and Jewel became suspicious and shielded their chicks.

"It's okay, he's vegetarian," shouted Ruby, "He may be our natural enemy but he's a friend."

"I hope he's not going to attack and eat us," said Blu suspiciously, "because you know what cats are like with us."

"It's true, but I have never eaten a bird in my life," said Veggie, "So don't worry, I won't hurt you."

Blu and Jewel still looked at him suspiciously before they reluctantly lowered their guard.

"Alright, as long as he doesn't harm the kids," said Jewel sternly. Then Veggie introduced himself, followed by Dash who shook Blu's wing with a paw.

"We've seen a picture of you," said Dash, "but we never expected to meet you five face-to-face."

"And these are our chicks," said Blu, "This is Carla, and Bia, and Tiago."

The three chicks lined up as Blu introduced each one. Carla and Tiago looked exactly like Bia, only their feathers and eyes differed. Carla's feathers were a lighter blue, more cerulean like her mother Jewel's, and her eyes were a teal colour. Tiago, on the other hand, was a darker blue like his father Blu, and he had brown eyes. Bia was sort of half way between cerulean and dark blue, and was probably closer to the shade of Adenine's feathers than her brother and sister. However when she had just learned to fly, she had darker blue feathers like Tiago and Blu, but the feathers had become much brighter as she grew, and it's possible that her plumage will continue to get brighter as she grows, similar to how Thymine's had done when she grew into an adult. Her eyes were a hazel colour like her father's and brother's. After Blu had introduced the chicks, Bia began looking at Ruby, Sapphire, Opal, Emerald and Jasper with curiosity and fascination.

"What's Bia doing?" asked Emerald.

"She's fascinated with animals and plants," replied Blu, "just like I am, so she's just curious about you."

Then he rolled his eyes over the five non-Spix macaws and said to Ruby, "You're a green-winged macaw, am I right?"

"Yes, I am," replied Ruby. Then Blu turned to Jasper and said, "and you, you're a blue-and-gold?"

"Uh-huh," replied Jasper.

"And you, Emerald, are you a military or a Buffon's macaw?" asked Blu.

"I'm a great green macaw, also called Buffon's macaw," replied Emerald proudly. Then Blu looked at Sapphire.

"You must be a hyacinth macaw," he said.

"You're correct," said Sapphire with a smile and then Blu looked at Opal.

"And… I don't know what sort of macaw you are. You look like you're a hybrid," said Blu.

"I am," replied Opal, "I'm a cross between a green-winged and blue-and-gold. Humans call my hybrid type a harlequin."

"I've never seen a hybrid macaw before," said Jewel, "but you look so colourful."

"It's a genetics thing," said Opal. Then Blu eyed Veggie and said, "And for an animal that's normally carnivorous, I think you're pretty unusual to be a vegetarian. Do you eat fruit and vegetables?"

"I do, except certain fruits like avocados and raisins," replied Veggie, "those fruits are toxic for cats."

"Then how is it you've never hunted a bird?" asked Jewel.

"Some cats are like that," replied Veggie, "But no predation occurred in the Garden of Eden before Adam sinned against God."

"The what?" asked Blu.

"The Garden of Eden," replied Veggie, "It was a place where God placed Adam and Eve and the land animals. It was once perfect until Adam and Eve ruined it all by disobeying God and eating of the forbidden tree. Since then, some of the animals became carnivorous, and cats are just one of them. But that doesn't stop vegetarian cats from existing."

"B-but predators have always been around since life began," said Blu, "There have been meat eaters since the time of the dinosaurs. No, even before dinosaurs appeared."

"We don't agree with the theory of evolution," replied Ruby.

"Well, I'm quite surprised," said Blu with his wings on his hips. Then when Opal lifted her right wing, she unintentionally exposed the scratch on her flank. Jewel looked at the wound in shock.

"What's happened there?" she asked.

"That scratch," said Veggie pointing to Opal's injury before Jewel could accuse him, "was NOT my doing. It was from another cat back at the smugglers' den."

When Blu and Jewel heard this, they were very shocked.

"Wait a minute, are you saying that there is another group of smugglers up to no good?" snorted Jewel angrily. Then Zephyr spoke up.

"I'm afraid so, Jewel," he said, "We were kidnapped and taken by that group of thieves who are planning on smuggling us out of Brazil."

"B-b-but I thought those smugglers have been jailed," cried Blu in disbelief, "And don't tell me Nigel's returned has he?"

"I thought he died when Blu sent him flying out of the plane with a fire extinguisher," said Jewel, "right into the path of one of the propellers."

"That cockatoo's not among them, Jewel," said Cobalt, "It's a large group of cats this time, led by a vicious and mean dark grey cat who is obsessed with money."

"And when they caged us and Veggie and Dash when they tried to rescue us," added Sapphire, "Some of us suffered sprained wings for they were that rough. I almost suffered a dislocation when I was forcefully shoved into a cage too small for me."

"And as a result," put in Emerald, "we can't fly for very long. Every time we try to, pain just shoots through our muscles until we are forced to land."

"That's why we are on our way back to Tulio's Aviary to get the casualties checked out," said Cytosine. "I'm alright but my siblings Guanine, Thymine and Adenine, Madison, Breezy, Sapphire and Emerald are not; they're the ones with the sprained wings."

"So some of you got injured by those revolting smugglers and their cats when they stuffed you unto cages?" asked Jewel.

"Yes," replied Guanine. Then Jewel began to boil in anger.

"I absolutely DETEST cages, honestly," she snarled.

"I agree," said Zephyr, "So do Madison, my sister Breezy, and Cobalt."

"I'm alright with them as long as I am in the hands of a caring human," said Cobalt. Then Blu came forward and said, "So it seems that you lot have had a lucky escape despite the crippling disadvantage of those sprained wings?"

"If it weren't for the greyhound and that bizarre veggie cat in addition to these lowly pets, I don't think we would have stood a chance," said Madison, "Those smugglers' cats were very sneaky, and with over half of us not being able to fly, we might not have escaped."

Veggie gave a slight smile as he heard Madison approve of him for the first time. Then the cat said to Blu and Jewel, "and it was in the nick of time too. Dash managed to escape as well, and there is something we must warn you about."

"What?" inquired Blu.

"After the smugglers and their cats have failed to catch us," explained Veggie, "I've a feeling that they are looking for us and the other birds to catch and re-cage, and I reckon that they are searching for these eight blue macaws AND you five, since you're the last thirteen Spix macaws known in the world."

"What do you mean?" asked Jewel. Carla, Bia and Tiago huddled against her in fear and she hugged them.

"Well, in the eyes of the smugglers," said Dash, "You, Blu, your chicks, along with Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Zephyr, Breezy, Cobalt and Madison, are ultra-rare goldmines worth lots and lots of money, so we are imagining that they will stop at nothing to find and cage you, so be warned."

"And those cats of theirs will be out searching for us as well," put in Sapphire, "So we must be on the lookout."

"Okay, thanks for telling us," said Blu, "But I'm not sure if we believe you."

Jewel wrapped her wings around her chicks protectively and snorted, "Well, I am NOT going to let them revolting furballs get their paws on MY chicks. I'll fight them to the death if I have to if they ever threaten them."

"Jewel's certainly a fierce individual, isn't she?" Sapphire whispered to Emerald.

"Sounds like it," replied Emerald, "I bet she's a macaw not to be messed with, just like Zephyr."

"You'll see when we encounter any of those cats, Jewel," said Cobalt warningly and seriously. Then Rafael came up and said, "Okay, I think that's enough standing around talking. I think it's time we got a move on, so let's go."

And with that the group resumed its trek to the city of Rio. As they were walking through the forest, Cytosine began to ask Blu questions.

"So how did you and Jewel meet?" he asked, "Where did you come from?"

"I came from Minnesota, the USA," replied Blu. Guanine, Adenine and Thymine listened to him.

"And Linda and I were invited by Tulio to here as I was the last known male of my kind back then. I met Jewel in the cage."

"Cage?" asked Guanine.

"That place with the sand and trees and river," replied Blu.

"Oh, you mean that artificial habitat," said Guanine, "That's where we met Zephyr, Cobalt, Breezy and Madison."

"And he was honestly offensive," said Jewel sharply, "I'm just glad he's become more respectful, especially in regards to starting a family."

And with that she glared at Blu, who just shrugged.

"You were kidnapped by smugglers as well just like we were?" asked Adenine.

"We were, yes," replied Jewel, "but I was unable to fly back to the jungle because I was chained to Blu and he didn't fly back then."

"He couldn't fly?" Thymine asked in shock.

"I had never learnt to fly since I was a chick," said Blu, "It was only after that psycho-too Nigel had fractured Jewel's wing while he pinned me down underfoot when we were on that plane, and after I sent that overgrown vulture shooting out like a rocket in front of the plane to be shredded by one of the propellers. After the plane began to fall, Jewel fell out and plummeted towards the ocean. I jumped out of the plane, unwilling to let her die thanks that that cockatoo, she kissed me and voala, I was airborne."

"It was when he was willing to sacrifice himself to save me despite the fact that he couldn't fly himself," said Jewel with an edgy voice as the memory was emotional, "It was possibly the loveliest thing anyone has ever done for me."

"That's so romantic," said Ruby. Zephyr just shook his head in annoyance.

"Maybe I could do something like that to Breezy if she were in Jewel's feathers and I was in yours," said Cytosine.

"It might be possible," said Blu with a smile. At this Breezy elbowed Cytosine in the side, making him flinch and hold the area in pain. Then Breezy eyed Blu and asked, "Wait a minute, did you say you came over to here in Brazil with a human?"

"Linda was my human companion," said Blu, "She cared for me for fifteen years."

"Wait a minute, you're a pet?" asked Zephyr angrily. At this Blu flinched in anger.

"Will you NOT call me a pet, please?" he retorted, "I was not a pet. I was a companion."

"I wonder if that's the reason you didn't fly, pet," sneered Madison mockingly, "after all, lowly pets don't know ANYTHING about being free or wild…"

"And Jewel is your mate?" put in Breezy. Jewel shook her head when she heard this.

"I don't believe this," muttered Zephyr, "How can Jewel fall in love with a _pet?"_

"Stop using that 'p' word," snapped Blu. "I hate that word."

"I'm sorry," said Zephyr to Blu's face, "Pet."

Then Cytosine intervened and squawked, "You know something, wild-boy, I really am beginning to get irritated by your condescending attitude, same with that of your sister, wild-girl here."

Breezy glared at him as he said this and threatened to pounce on him to throttle him. Zephyr boiled with anger all the more.

"And I'm getting sick and tired of your obnoxious attitude, bowtie bird," he retorted right into Cytosine's face.

"ENOUGH!" screeched Ruby at the top of her voice. "Stop quarrelling, okay?"

"Their squawking's already starting to give me a headache," muttered Veggie as his ears hurt.

"Tell us about it," agreed Dash. Rafael shook his head and sighed. Cobalt did the same.

"The newcomer Spix macaws are never going to fall in love if they keep arguing like this," said Rafael.

"We heard that, you big nose!" snarled Zephyr. Madison and Breezy also glared at the black toco toucan. Rafael just shrugged the comment off. The group walked on for quite some time until suddenly they stopped when Cytosine looked in the direction of something with wide eyes and open beak. The rest of the group looked at him curiously.

"What is it, Cyto?" asked Rafael. Then Guanine, Adenine and Thymine gazed at the same place agape.

"Are you four alright?" asked Veggie. Then the four macaws walked towards the spot they were gazing at. The others looked at each other and followed. Cytosine and his siblings then began to examine the spot, for it looked familiar.

"This area's familiar," he said. Jewel and Blu looked at each other while Bia was exploring some plants. It seemed that she was into biology like her father, and loved science and maths. Carla and Tiago, however, were less fond of the subjects. The others also looked at each other in confusion as Guanine looked up in the sky. An image of fleeing birds flashed in her mind and then faded. Cytosine also went to a spot and examined it. An image of cage bars flashed in his mind and then faded. Adenine then imagined meowy laughs and frightened birds. These memories made him quiver. Then Thymine imagined a cockatoo-like laugh. The laugh sounded maniacal, diabolical, enough to send chills down a bird's spine. Then the looks on Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine's faces turned from wonder to sadness as a memory flashed in their minds. In the memory, a blue bird landed hard on the floor, and a red bird (which looked like Ruby but had slightly different features) began to shake it awake but to no avail. The red bird then fled as the four chicks, surrounded by cats, were then taken back to some humans. All around the chicks were other caged birds carried off by cats while some more birds were being thrown into more cages. Then an image appeared in which the humans were loading them onto the plane with other caged birds and the four chicks received a sadistic glare from the white cockatoo, its brown eyes fixed on them and its beak holding a wide, wicked smile. Back to reality, Cytosine opened his eyes and looked around while Ruby, Rafael, Blu, Jewel and the others looked on curiously. Then Cytosine spoke.

"I think we remember our origins, now," he said to the group. Next, the group had left that place and had stopped for a rest. Rafael, Blu, Jewel, Ruby and Zephyr had gathered some fruit together and have brought it back for the others including Veggie and Dash to eat. Veggie was alright with pineapples and mangoes as he has tried them before, but Dash had to make do with some of these fruits as there was no source of dog food in sight. While the group was munching away on their snacks, Cytosine began to explain to them.

"We were born here," he said, "and we were raised in this jungle. However, we were captured by cats, a cockatoo and some humans and they took us out of this country."

"What did the cockatoo look like?" asked Ruby.

"Was it that yellow crested rat Nigel?" snarled Jewel. She and Blu detested that cockatoo and sometimes Jewel had the desire to tear the cockatoo's feathers out and get back at him for breaking her wing. However this would be a bad idea as she could do herself serious damage for Nigel was much bigger than her and possibly twice as strong. Furthermore, revenge is never a good idea as it also reaps consequences for the avenger. Blu also sometimes dreamt about that cockatoo and had nightmares about him.

"I remember it having brown eyes and a large crest," said Cytosine. Blu and Jewel looked at each other in shock. Then Rafael said, "So apparently, you've met Nigel when you were chicks?"

"Possibly," said Cytosine. Guanine, Adenine and Thymine nodded in agreement. Then Ruby said, "I remember talking to a green-winged macaw about that bird back at Tulio's Aviary. He mentioned that the cockatoo had once injured a Spix macaw by breaking its wing."

"That was me," said Jewel immediately.

"And then what happened did that cockatoo do to you?" asked Blu. Cytosine munched on a mango slice and explained the answer.

"Apparently, it must have been the bird that killed that blue macaw. There were birds flying around all over the place but they were being netted and caged, or shot out of the air by nets. After they had plummeted to the forest floor, cats gathered them up and caged them. It was when that white cockatoo attacked that blue bird. We have no idea what that blue bird was but the cockatoo fought it and then threw it hard at a tree trunk and the bird just dropped like a stone onto the ground. Then the red bird tried shaking it awake but to no avail. Then we found ourselves staring into the terrifying brown eyes of that same white cockatoo that must have killed that blue bird. The next thing we knew was we were loaded onto the plane with other caged birds by that cockatoo and the cats, and that's all I can remember," finished Cytosine. When he had finished his summary of what happened to him, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine, the other birds, Veggie and Dash made sympathetic and sorrowful faces. Then Blu turned to Ruby, Sapphire, Opal, Emerald and Jasper and asked, "Have you ever met Nigel, you five?"

The five non-Spix macaws shook their heads.

"We haven't met that cockatoo ourselves," replied Ruby.

"Well, I hope we never will," said Emerald with a frown, "By the sound of what we've been told by the birds that have, he must have been a very mean cockatoo."

"He absolutely was," snarled Jewel fiercely.

"And he's very strong as well," added Rafael, "Perhaps as strong as _you_, Sapphire."

Sapphire glared back at him in shock and disbelief. Being a hyacinth macaw, not only was she the largest of Susan's pets but also the strongest. Sapphire could not imagine a cockatoo with matching strength as her.

"In fact," continued Rafael, "Nigel could easily defeat Dash in a fight, he was that strong and fast."

"I've never heard of that vulture fight a greyhound or a dog, but it's a possibility," said Blu.

"I think we've met that cockatoo as well," said Zephyr. "It was when we were trying to flee a group of smugglers a while after me, Breezy, Mom and Dad were separated from the Spix macaw tribe."

"The Spix macaws I believe are dead now," said Breezy, "I don't think they'll have survived that fire."

When she said this, Jewel quivered and wept. Images of flames and smoke flashed in her mind and sounds of screeches were heard as terrified animals were trapped in the inferno. Jewel then had images about her family, friends and the rest of the tribe, especially some very close friends of hers. When she gazed at Madison in shock a while ago during the group's introduction, Madison's very appearance strongly reminded her of one particular macaw that was one of her closest friends. It had dark blue feathers and a mop-like crest (guess who!) and it brought back memories of her tragic past. Blu looked at Jewel with concern.

"Jewel," he said, "Are you alright?"

Jewel snapped out of her nostalgia.

"Yes," she replied, denying the feelings she was having. "I'm fine."

Taken in by this denial, Blu smiled as Tiago jumped onto his back. Blu smiled and brought his son to the front and sat him there. Then Madison said, "I've also met that cockatoo as well. We were being sold as pets and that cockatoo, honestly, wouldn't leave us alone. He kept tormenting us, poking us and calling us vile names and making snide remarks. The rest of my relatives caught with me were sold before I was but when it came to my turn, I escaped. I did not want to stay in that vile human's place any longer so I just fled in a blur. I spent the next few years of my life just living alone until I was caught by some humans and taken to that wretched place they call the Aviary, along with Zephyr, Breezy and Cobalt, days before those four (Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine) came along."

"Did you ever see your family again?" inquired Rafael. Madison shook her head.

"I never saw any of my relatives again," she replied with a sigh. "For all I know I think they've died or sold as pets or have met some other demise."

"That's tragic," said Blu. Then the group turned to Cobalt.

"Have you ever met that cockatoo?" Blu asked. Then it was Cobalt's turn to be troubled by sad memories, so he remained silent, reluctant to say anything. Then after a long silence, he finally spoke.

"I have," he said, "In fact… I lived with him when I was very young…" Cobalt then began to quiver. "He was one of my best friends."

When the others in the group heard this, they gasped in serious shock, flabbergasted at what they had just heard. Then Jewel became very angry.

"Don't tell me you took part in smuggling birds with that vulture, haven't you!?" she squawked.

"How could you have been friends with that psycho-too despite the fact that he _hated _exotic birds?" put in Blu.

"Were you his sidekick or something?" gasped Madison, her hair-like feathers angled at where they joined her head. When Madison was angry, shocked or frightened, her long hair-like feathers would appear as though they were supported by a headband. While that may look nice, it, however, made Madison looked frightening. A relative of hers also has this expressive feature in the mop-like crest feathers.

"H-how could you have been friends with a cockatoo infamous for torturing and smuggling birds?" asked Rafael equally shocked.

"After all we've heard about that cockatoo," said Ruby, "you were friends with him?"

"I don't believe this," said Zephyr in disbelief.

"Either you were mad or were as bad as HIM!" put in Breezy. The rest of the group, including Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine also muttered in shock and disbelief. Cobalt just looked at them with a deadpan expression.

"It may look like I co-operated with Nigel in smuggling birds but it was nowhere near what that cockatoo does nowadays," he said. The others were still too shocked to believe him.

"In other words," continued Cobalt, "Nigel was not the Nigel you guys now know when I was his friend; in fact it was before Nigel started smuggling birds."

Cobalt's dark secret was now out: he was a former friend of the cockatoo every exotic bird knew to be ruthless and sadistic.

**Now this is where it gets interesting. In the next chapter will be an explanation of how Nigel became the antagonist of the Rio franchise we know through Cobalt's backstory. Stay tuned!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9- Cobalt's backstory and a dance at Nico and Pedro's club**

Dash, Veggie, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Opal and Jasper, the other Spix macaws Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Zephyr, Breezy, Madison, Blu and Jewel, and Rafael the toucan all gazed at Cobalt wide eyed with disbelief and horror at what Cobalt had just told them. Cobalt had kept this secret from other birds for fear that they may shun him, for they knew what the cockatoo was like to them, both from hearing from the birds that have experienced the cockatoo's abuse and/or have been tortured at the cockatoo's talons themselves. In fact, even the very name 'Nigel the cockatoo' made them cringe. Now that Cobalt has developed the courage to tell them about his experiences with Nigel, he felt it was time to get the truth out into the open.

"So yes," began Cobalt as he started to open up his backstory with the audience listening intently, "I'm not surprised at your reactions but I was friends with Nigel. He was a good cockatoo, and one of the closest friends I ever had." As he began his story, a flashback started.

Cobalt: He and I, we both had the same career. We were television stars, and Nigel was alright with exotic birds at the time. I was only a very young chick back then, and had just learnt to fly when I joined the cockatoo in his acts, and we had become the best of friends. I was like a sidekick to the cockatoo, known by his full name Cocks 'Nigel' Cockatoo, and there were some other animals that portrayed other characters in the films we used to act in and participated in the shows with us, such as Carnival. But Nigel, he was the ultimate star of attraction of us all. It is possible that he's been in that role all his life even before I met and joined him as a sidekick. Anyway, we both starred in a variety of animal film shows: 'Fly Hard'... 'All My Flock'... 'As the Cage Turns'... 'Fly Another Day'... 'Close Encounters of the Bird Kind' to name a few. We both had a marvellous time together but Nigel was the true hero of the shows. We even participated in Carnival together but again Nigel was the centre of attention and I was more of a secondary character, or second best. I've never known a bird with so much fame and attraction with so much adoration. Nigel also had female sulfur-crested cockatoos swoon over him whenever they saw him. I was a little jealous of all the attention Nigel got but I was very happy for him, while I was happy with being second best to him because I am not really that good with being the centre of attention, for I am an extremely shy macaw. Nigel and I truly were best friends, like brothers in fact. We were inseparable almost because we were that close. I was part of nearly all of Nigel's acts for at least five years, and we were both famous all across South America, Nigel especially since he has been in that career longer than I had.

Cobalt: Then one very early morning while it was still dark, Nigel and I were asleep in our cages in a caravan when we heard our human owners talk outside. I woke up, opened the cage door and flew out while Nigel was still asleep to investigate through an open window, and I saw one of our owners standing outside a tent entrance talking to another human who had something in his hand. It was a cage of some sort, containing a bird, so I went over to Nigel, woke him up, and he exited his cage, and then we both watched and listened intently to our owner as he talked with the other human with the cage in his hand. We didn't see the bird in that cage properly but we did get a glimpse of leafy green feathers in a beam of light from a lantern hung up outside the tent, suggesting a parakeet or green macaw similar to Emerald. We couldn't quite hear what our owner was saying but we did make out a few sentence segments like, "I think this Paraguayan parakeet Petricious here... films and Carnival...". At first we thought we were going to have another addition to our performances and acts, and that Petricious was going to join our gang. But then we heard the true intentions and reasons behind Petricious' introduction... the true intentions that will stab Nigel to the core like a knife... and change his life and attitude towards exotic birds from then on... the owner said, "I think Petricious will be more appealing to the audience than Nigel, actually. He's more colourful than that cockatoo and younger too, and I think he'll take his place in the animal shows from now on, and sell Nigel to another owner as just an ordinary cockatoo. As for Cobalt, I'm going to give him over to conservation since I've just discovered that he's an extremely rare Spix macaw..."

That comment disappointed me greatly but it had a more devastating effect on Nigel; it tore his heart in two, and I saw his face fall from enlightenment to sadness. Over the next few months, Nigel absolutely refused to talk to me or anyone, despite my attempts to comfort him. He was so depressed that he sometimes wished he had never been born. I had never seen a bird so depressed and miserable. That career of his must have been everything to him: the fame... the girl cockatoos... and his role as the hero of the films we both starred in. Now all that has vanished like a plant on fire thanks to that Paraguayan parakeet named Petricious. As time went by, Nigel became more and more depressed, and my attempts to comfort him became more and more futile. I was really beginning to get worried about Nigel. I was his friend, like a little brother to him, but for some strange reason, he refused my sympathy.

Cobalt: and then one day, we were in our cages on a stall. I was to be given away to some ornithologists to be taken to a conservation centre while Nigel was to be sold to another owner. We were on a stall outside an electronics shop that had a set of TVs. It was a miserable day, quite cloudy and grey, and the city was very busy. Nigel, was usual, was extremely depressed and refused to talk to me. I was in my own cage adjacent to his, and I was seriously worried about him. A human in charge of the stall was calling out to passers-by to buy his products and items, including Nigel. Then a man came by and took a liking to Nigel by putting his nose right up to his cage. Nigel, however, was not in the mood for being sold or admired by the potential customer. Then came the moment when everything suddenly exploded. Nigel and I noticed familiar pictures on the TVs in the window of the nearby electronics shop: it was one of our films, 'Fly Another Day' I think it was. Nigel looked intently at the pictures, at the parakeet that displaced him from his roles in the film, performing what he used to perform. As he stared at those screens, something inside him boiled and bubbled madly, like a volcano. I became worried as he began remembering that night when our owner decided to have Petricious replace us and have Nigel sold as an ordinary cockatoo. He forgot about me during those moments. "Nigel," I said, "Are you alright?" Then suddenly, without warning, Nigel snapped. "That parakeet took everything away from me!" he said under his breath and with that, he exploded into a maniacal rage. It was a terrifying sight, one I especially remember about him. Then Nigel began flapping around madly in his cage and screeching, sending the potential customer jumping back in serious shock, and his cage into a wild tumble as he struck into the bars like a fish out of water. As he did that, he knocked over everything around it, including me and my cage. The man in charge of our stall tried to calm the cockatoo but Nigel managed to forcibly open the cage door and escape his cage. What happened next was brutal. As the man grabbed Nigel in an attempt to restrain him with the customer helping, the cockatoo applied his talons and beak full force. I won't describe how brutal it was but it was extremely savage. Nigel was like an enraged cat. His crest was erect, his feathers were on end, his eyes were full of fury and he was screaming like a falcon. You can't imagine the looks on the faces of the surrounding humans. Some mothers had their arms wrapped around their kids, other humans kept their distance, and any dogs on leads walking past were terrified and hid behind their owners. During the frenzy, I managed to escape my cage and get out of the way of the cockatoo's wrath. Then after he had brutally attacked the stall keeper, Nigel rocketed into the air just as thunderclouds gathered. I immediately took off after him and cried, "Nigel! Nigel!"

The cockatoo then turned round and screeched, "Exotic birds get all the attention, don't they?"

"What? What do you...?" I began. Nigel turned round and screeched at the top of his voice, "PRETTY BIRDS ALWAYS GET ALL THE ATTENTION, DON'T THEY?"

And with that, he rocketed off, leaving me stunned and horrified at his sudden change of behaviour and mood. It had begun to rain as he rocketed off.

Cobalt: Then later, Nigel was angrily flying through the pouring rain, a scowl on his face and crest erect. I tried catching up to him, but since I was still quite young and also smaller, I kept lagging behind... and then we came across a group of humans walking back and forth below us with caged birds. Nigel then immediately flew down to the group just as I had caught up, leaving me hovering in the rain flabbergasted and horrified. And from then on, he wasn't my friend anymore.

(Back to present) Cobalt then became saddened and gave a sigh.

"He wasn't the friend of any Brazilian bird, in fact," he said sorrowfully. He then gave a saddened sigh and looked down. "Nigel joined that group of humans, which turned out to be a group of smugglers, and became the pet of the leader. And from then on he began to capture exotic birds and imprison them, while in the process, take out his wrath on them at every opportunity by torturing them and abusing them."

The audience were horrified at the story.

"So, what happened to you next, Cobalt?" asked Cytosine.

"I was captured and caged by Nigel as well, for I was an exotic bird myself," replied Cobalt, as he began to quiver at the traumatising memories, "and I was held there for quite some time. I begged Nigel to snap out of his frenzied hatred for exotic birds but he refused, and once I got a slash down the flank. But thanks to my knowledge of cages, I escaped. Other exotic birds, they weren't so lucky. I would have set some of them free but I so desperately wanted to escape, from both the devastation of the betrayal and the appalling den of the smugglers that I didn't have a thought for the others for fear that Nigel would kill me if he caught me."

Blu and Jewel looked at Cobalt awe with sympathy and horror.

"And then I was found by a group of ornithologists and taken to a conservation centre," continued Cobalt, "They treated my wound and kept me there until they could find a female for me, but I managed to escape. It ain't right what Nigel took up, you know. Exotic birds at his clutches when they have no knowledge of cages: they don't stand a chance. That change in Nigel, my former best friend, has scarred me, and it will continue to trouble me for the rest of my life. And that's my story."

The rest of the group then clapped after hearing this sad story. However Jewel remained as loathsome of the cockatoo as did Blu.

"Well, regardless of what that cockatoo's been through," said Jewel angrily, "I think he's still a sick, yellow crested vulture."

"Why didn't he listen to you, Cobalt, rather than let his hatred for exotic birds explode?" asked Ruby.

"I've no idea," replied Cobalt tearfully. "But it seemed that the career Nigel loved ever so much was like his whole world, but now that world crashed and burned thanks to Petricious. For over ten years since I fled him I've lived with the memory of that cockatoo's betrayal. I just sometimes really wished that Nigel would listen to me, but he didn't, so there."

Then he looked at Blu, Jewel and Rafael and said, "Don't tell me he was still up to his torturing and abusing exotic birds, was he when you met him?"

Jewel seethed as Cobalt said this, while Blu and Rafael just gave a sad look.

"I'll take that as a yes then," replied Cobalt and with that, he put his face in his wings. Guanine went over to comfort him.

"It's not your fault that he's turned into the bird that he is," said Guanine, "so don't blame yourself."

"It was HIS problem that he became so bitter," said Madison.

"Where is Nigel now, anyway?" asked Cytosine. Jewel snorted at this question.

"Torn to pieces, probably," she snapped, "I'm so glad that that cockatoo's dead. Blu really did a good job in dealing with him."

(This is not true as Nigel actually survived the propeller incident, and in a very serious state as well with most of his feathers gone).

Blu smiled proudly at the remark, but Adenine and Thymine shook their heads disagreeing.

"We wouldn't gloat over the cockatoo's accident if we were in your place," said Adenine.

"I think Nigel should have reformed before pushing himself too far," put in Thymine. Jewel snapped at them severely, making them jump.

"You THINK!?" she snarled, "Haven't you heard what that chicken-face did not MY wing and what he was about to do to Blu? He broke my wing and would've killed BLU! Don't you see that, you two?"

Then Emerald spoke up on Thymine and Adenine's behalf.

"He shouldn't have become the cockatoo we know of," he said sharply, "It was HIS fault that he let his hatred take him over, not anyone else's, not even Petricious'."

"Emerald's right," said Cobalt, "He's absolutely right. Nigel shouldn't have let his hatred turn him into the sulfur-crested monster he was. But when you take your anger out on others like that, very negative consequences are reaped. In Nigel's case, he got a very bad reputation and was despised by most Brazilian birds."

"I think he deserves," muttered Jewel. Then Rafael came up and said, "Well, I think it's time we moved on. Break time's over, and if we wanna reunite these amigos with their owners as soon as possible, then I think we should get a move on."

"Definitely," said Dash in agreement. Veggie nodded.

"Tiago, come on," said Blu but Tiago was nowhere to be seen. Blu began to get worried.

"Have you seen my son anywhere?" he said.

"The last time I saw him he was sitting on your lap," said Cobalt. Then all of a sudden, a blue chick jumped out at Cobalt from a nearby bush and shouted "BOOOO!"

Cobalt jumped and screeched a little and then Tiago burst out laughing. Blu and Jewel went over to pick him up.

"What's it with that son of yours?" said Cobalt annoyed, "Don't tell me he's going to grow up like Big Nose's chicks."

Blu looked at him and said, "Tiago's just quite mischievous, that's all. Jokes seem to be his favourite subject."

"Yeah right, pet," muttered Zephyr, "As long as you don't let that kid of yours grow up to pluck feathers for one and him or his two sisters grow up like pets for another!"

Blu raised his wing to slap Zephyr but Zephyr backed away as Sapphire stepped in to block the impending fight.

"We shall have NO fighting please," said Sapphire to Blu and Zephyr, "Let's just get ourselves together and move out!"

Blu and Zephyr frowned at her before cooling down their angers. However Blu gave Zephyr a slight glare as he joined his sister Breezy, before returning to his mate and chicks' side. He loathed being called a pet, and found it offensive and irritating. However in Ruby and Cytosine's eyes he was technically Linda's pet but Blu preferred 'companion' over 'pet'. Why Blu loathed being called a pet is not known. Then the group continued its journey to the city of Rio. They walked on until they finally came to a parked truck as some humans were out for a picnic. Rafael decided that the group should hitch a ride on the truck as it will take them into the city, and so they did. While the family of three had their backs turned, Blu, Jewel and their chicks fluttered aboard the trailer, followed by Cytosine, Zephyr (who carried Breezy), Cobalt, Ruby and Jasper. Then Dash and Veggie ran to the trailer while its hatch was down and quickly hoisted Thymine, Guanine, Adenine, Sapphire, Madison, Opal and Emerald before climbing in themselves just as the father came to put away a seat. The group hid under some cloths to avoid being seen. The father then closed the hatch and he, his wife and son got into the driving section just as Rafael fluttered into the trailer with the others.

"This should take us to the city in no time," said Rafael with a smile.

"Yeah, and therefore we won't be seen by those cats of the smugglers," said Veggie. Then the truck started up and left the scene, taking its hitchhikers with it. The truck was on the main road running beside Copacabana Beach and on its way to the inner city after a while of driving. As it was stopped in a traffic jam, Dash peered out and caught sight of tourists and natives playing on the beach.

"I think we're just going by the beach, folks," he said, "We should be nearly back at Tulio's Aviary."

"I think this truck is going to its place in Rio, Dash dog," said Rafael with a smile. Dash looked at the toucan disappointed.

"It's not?" he asked. Then Sapphire looked at the bright orange and white cones.

"And it looks like it's nearing time for Carnival," she said, worried, "Susan and company are going to have a harder time finding us."

"I hope they do," said Emerald, "because as the days go by, our owners are getting more and more worried."

"You'll be united with them, don't worry," said Rafael with a smile. Then a few minutes later, the truck was off again. It turned into a junction and drove down that road. As it turned off, a group of small toucans and parakeets were madly flapping and fleeing from something. Their squawks alerted some passing humans who jumped out of the way in wonder and shock. Then a second later, five cats immediately dashed through their legs, knocking them down. The five cats were pursuing the parakeets and toucanets. Two of them had a cage on paw while the other three worked to catch the birds. The three free cats then jumped onto some of the parakeets and a toucanet and restrained them while two of the cats that had the cage quickly opened the door. Then the three cats quickly picked up the caught birds and stashed them into the cage, before slamming the door shut. Then they retreated to a hidden place before any human could spot them. After they had done this, one of the cats, a male all-black cat, looked out.

"Those Spix macaws must be out here somewhere," he said to the other four, "but we still haven't caught them."

Another cat, a female black and white one, checked the road.

"All the cones have been set out as well," she said, "It's not long until Carnival is due now."

"We'd better find those Spix macaws and catch them and quickly," said the leading black cat. The other four nodded and then left the area with their caged catch. Meanwhile, the truck on which Ruby sand the others had hitchhiked had arrived in a fruit market and had stopped. Rafael looked out and caught sighted two familiar forms. At this he smiled and waved at them.

"Hey, Nico and Pedro, my amigos!" he called and flew out to them. Ruby and the others saw him leave, so they jumped out. The birds fluttered to the ground but those with the sprains screeched as they flapped their wings and crashed to the floor. Sapphire fell on top of Veggie and whacked her wing over his head. Madison gave a sigh.

"I really wish our sprains would heal faster so that we could get back to the jungle out of this miserable human's place," she muttered.

"You've got to get checked out first," said Dash, "and perhaps kept there until you're nursed back to health."

"I was kept in Tulio's Aviary for several months after Blu took me to him, Tulio and Fernando after Nigel had broken my wing," said Jewel with a sigh. Madison just looked at her with a glare just as Rafael came back with Nico and Pedro.

"Yes, Blu and Jewel are doin' just fine," he said. Then Nico and Pedro clapped wings with Blu.

"Howdy, how is me lovehalk and Jewel's man doin' wi' his chickies?" said Pedro with a wide smile on his beak.

"Oh, fine, thanks," replied Blu, "Our chicks are growing stronger and bigger."

"Bia's showing an interest in biology," said Jewel with a smile, "and Tiago's getting more into practical jokes and Carla... I'm not sure what Carla's interests are. She didn't seem very interested in nature as Bia is."

Carla, however, had taken a strong liking to Nico and Pedro, and seemed to like their samba music, but she was yet to express it.

"I see, baby bird," said Nico as he spun his bottle cap hat in one of his feet before placing it on his head again, "their personalities are developin'?"

Then Pedro noticed some familiar faces, especially Veggie and Dash's.

"Hang on, hold the line!" he said and fluttered over to Cytosine and Ruby to look harder at the group.

"Are dese the birds we met before along wi their unusual fruity cat and speedy hound friends?" Pedro asked. Nico then looked closely at Madison, Breezy, Zephyr and Cobalt and said, "Looks like our four extra blue macaw friends have done well t' court these four without our advice."

"Look, please don't go there," said Cytosine, knowing how Zephyr will react to the subject.

"It... didn't end well," said Thymine.

"And they're still quite... wary and sensitive," put in Adenine.

"Just don't say anything that would cause a reaction," said Guanine, "we've got some sensitive issues at the moment."

Nico then flew back to Pedro's side and said, "Well, I remember Blu an' baby bird Jewel when dey were in that sort of a mood. Dey were chained together, weren't they?"

"Dey were, yes, Nico," said Pedro, "So if ya think ya failed first time, don't worry. We'll help ya win dem over wi our lil' help."

"What do you mean?" inquired Opal.

"Well, your blue friends really need to shake their tail feathers and pump up some moves, rainbow feathers," replied Nico with a wide smile.

"You mean dancing?" inquired Cytosine.

"Exactly, bowtie bird," said Pedro, "an' I'm sure your non-blue macaw friends would lurve to hear the sound of samba. We wanna take you to our club."

"Just like they did us two, Cytosine," put in Blu.

Zephyr sighed irritated at this as Veggie spoke.

"Well before you do, make sure you alert the other birds of my presence," he said firmly, "because even though I don't eat birds, I could still frighten them."

"Don't worry, fruity cat, we will," said Nico with a cheeky face expression.

"B-but shouldn't we get back to Tulio's Aviary first," said Dash, "We've got some sprained wings that need tending to..."

"Absolutely," agreed Guanine. Then Rafael put his wings around Cytosine and Ruby and said to the group, "Come on, you lot! You're in Rio. You should enjoy it!"

Then the group left to go to Nico and Pedro's samba club. However the group was unaware that they had been watched. Otis peered out from under a nearby crate with three other cats. They had been spying on Ruby and the others and had eavesdropped on their conversation. Otis smiled evilly and gleefully as he saw the birds, Veggie and Dash leave as one of his assistants brought him their stolen phone. Otis then called Brutus. Somewhere else in Rio, Brutus was checking the stash of caged birds caught over the last two days in a secluded place out of human sight when his stolen phone rang. Brutus pressed the 'accept' button and replied.

"Hi, Otis," he said.

"Hi, Brutus," said Otis gleefully, "I have some good news! I and my group have found the blue macaws that we are lookin' for."

Brutus was over the moon when he heard this.

"Oh, brilliant!" he cried ecstatically, "Where are they heading?"

"I think they're going to some sort of bird club," replied Otis, "and furthermore, the family of five including the chicks is with the other eight, so they're altogether."

"Great," replied Brutus joyfully, "well make sure you follow them and carefully plan an attack. Also make sure that the thirteen Spix macaws don't get away. We need those thirteen goldmine birds captured. I'll see you shortly."

"Okay, I will," replied Otis, "I'd better go anyway before those birds move out of sight."

"Okay, see you," replied Brutus and both cats hung up. Otis then gathered his gang of cats together and told them of a plan of attack. Some cats had their cages ready for when they catch the Spix macaws. Then when Otis had finished telling them what they will be doing, they began to quietly and stealthily follow Cytosine's group. Back with Cytosine and the others, Cytosine, Ruby and the other pets of Susan including Dash and Veggie were taken into a large tent. Before their arrival, Pedro had warned all the birds that a friendly cat was on the way and that they were not to be alarmed. As the group entered the tent, they were met with loud thumping music, colourful lights and dancing birds. Cytosine and the others were in awe at the sight. There were some birds flying around in the air, some dancing on the floor and some playing instruments made out of collected human things like tin cans and trash bin lids. Veggie gazed with amazed eyes and open mouth.

"Isn't God's creation so wonderful when there is a splash of colour in the scene," he said.

"This is the aerial equivalent of the Great Barrier Reef," said Guanine. Bia, one of Blu and Jewel's daughters, chirped in fascination at this comment.

"I've read about it before," she squeaked.

"You are quite a scientist, aren't you," said Cobalt with a smile. Bia chirped and then flew off. Then Nico proudly fluttered to the front of the group and said, "Welcome to Paradise."

"Is that what it's called?" asked Cytosine.

"Yes, amigo," said Rafael with a smile, "This is where Blu and Jewel had their first dance."

Blu and Jewel smiled at him when he said this.

"I don't think I've ever been to somewhere like this," said Cobalt. Then Ruby noticed Carla dancing to the music also.

"Does she like music?" she asked Jewel.

"I don't know but we'll find out as her talents manifest as she grows," replied Jewel with a smile.

"I hope you do have a daughter that is gifted in music," said Cobalt, "I think it would be a joy to have one of your chicks help Nico and Pedro in their music. Maybe come up with a few songs or something?"

Blu just smiled at him. Madison looked around the area.

"So what do they want us here, exactly?" she inquired to Rafael.

"You'll see in a minute, Maddie," replied Rafael. Madison frowned. Then Adenine came forward and said, "See what?"

Rafael flew off to converse with Nico and Pedro. Blu and Jewel had decided to talk to the samba duo as well, so they gave their three kids to Sapphire to look after.

"Watch over our kids, will you," Blu said to Sapphire. The hyacinth macaw nodded as Blu and Jewel flew off to meet Nico and Pedro. Sapphire looked closely at the three chicks as Emerald and Jasper came up.

"I tell you something, they don't look much like their parents at all," she said, "other than their eye and feather colours."

"Those features may change as they grow, I think, Sapphire," said Emerald, "I remember a pair of scarlet macaws that have had three chicks back in London. At first they looked identical but as they grew older, their appearance diverged and the traits they had inherited from their parents manifested themselves."

"I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of the daughters takes on Jewel's body shape," said Jasper.

"And Tiago would perhaps look like Blu," said Sapphire. Carla then looked at Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Jewel and Blu talking and wondered what they were talking about but she was not allowed to go away from Sapphire. Sapphire then said to Carla, "Do you like music?"

Carla shyly nodded.

"I wanna be like Nico and Pedro one day," she squeaked. And Tiago jumped up and bumped into Carla much to her annoyance.

"And I would like to play a few pranks," he said.

"Oh really?" said Sapphire with slightly narrowed eyes, "Well make sure you don't play any pranks that tear out feathers okay?"

Tiago just looked at her with a smile of mischief and giggled slightly.

"I'm serious, young lad," said Sapphire slightly more firmly, "If you go out ripping feathers of other birds, your mum will not be pleased."

Tiago then wiped the smile off his face and took a step back as Sapphire gave a slight nod. Back with Rafael, Nico, Pedro and the macaw couple, Blu said, "I know, why don't you play 'Hot Wings (I Wanna Party)' just as you did with us when we had our first dance?"

"I'm sure our new macaw friends would love to dance to that," said Jewel.

"Dat's a good idea, baby bird," said Pedro elated.

"We'll get to that right away," said Nico. And with that the canary and cardinal duo flew off to start up the song. Rafael smiled at the two as they left.

"Well, my two lovebirds," he said, "It looks like it's a good suggestion."

"Yes," said Jewel and then she turned to Blu and said, "Would you like to dance with me to that song again?"

"Oh sure, honey," replied Blu and with that the two macaws walked to the dance floor as Nico and Pedro opened up the song.

"Okay, everyone, listen up," called Pedro to the dancing birds, "we have eight new Spix macaws here; four from across th' Atlantic Ocean and four from here..."

As he said this, a spotlight fell on Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Zephyr, Madison, Breezy and Cobalt. The eight macaws, especially Cobalt, were startled as all eyes fell on them.

"I never really liked being the centre of attention when I danced in the Carnival with Nigel," muttered Cobalt quietly. From the audience, Veggie, Dash, Ruby, Opal, Sapphire with Blu and Jewel's kids, Emerald and Jasper smiled at the eight Spix macaws as Pedro continued, "...and let's introduce 'em to a lil' of our music."

Then Pedro flew to the centre and continued, "Okay everyone put your wings together and flap 'em, clap 'em, slap 'em, oh whatever, you know watta do (caw, caw)," as he began beating on the makeshift drums. Then Nico leaned against the wall and said, "Party in Ipanema, baby!"

And with that the air was filled with the banging of the drums as Nico and Pedro beat them. The birds around them began to dance as the song began to start.

Nico and Pedro: I wanna party... I wanna samba... I wanna party... I wanna samba... I wanna party... and live my life (Nico: my life)... I wanna party (Pedro: party)... and fly...

And with that the pair took off and began to the sing the next verse. Cytosine looked up in wonder.

Nico: I'ma fly, fly just like a bird (Pedro: but you _are _a bird!), oh yeah you're right, so lemme fly just like a rocket, then (Pedro: okay)...

Nico then jumped into the air and somersaulted. He threw his bottle cap hat into the air and caught it with his feet, before placing it back on his head in the process.

Nico: fly so high where I need to come down for ox-y-gen... (other birds: hey) 'cause once we start it, baby, there's no stop-in' den (other birds: hey)...

While Nico was singing the verses, Cytosine began to feel his talon tap to the music as Cobalt bobbed his head to the beat slightly. Then a flashback of him dancing to the samba beat with some birds (with Nigel at the front) at Carnival flashed in his head. Ruby and Emerald also felt the beat run through their body.

Nico: 'cause I just wanna live my life and par-ty (other birds: hey), all I want is to be and rock by bo-dy (okay), been around th' world and I wanna life my life in Rio, 'cause I Rio, 'cause I Rio-realise that I wanna part...

During this Cobalt took off with his wings flapping to the beat while Guanine felt her tail move and shake. Then suddenly Cytosine and Thymine started dancing. Their bodies were moving around as though they had a mind of their own.

"What's happening to you two?" Zephyr asked Cytosine and Thymine quite shocked just as Adenine started dancing.

"I don't know," said Cytosine as he struggled to control his body.

"Our body's moving around like they've got some sort of motor in them," said Thymine as she spun round. Cobalt was flapping in the air and performing acrobatic moves.

"This reminds me of when I danced at Carnival," he said excitedly. He then landed, took hold of Guanine by the wing (the one that was not sprained), pulled her past him and then back into his other wing. Guanine was taken by surprise at this and smiled shyly. With Ruby's group, Rafael was elated to see them dancing.

"Alright, Cytosine," he said. Veggie was wondering why Cytosine, Adenine and Thymine were dancing around to the beat.

"Is it natural or something Rafie?" he asked.

"It's a bird/samba thing, cat," replied Rafael, "It's complicated. I don't think you cats have that instinct."

"Instinct?" inquired Veggie.

"Yes, the beat of the heart," said Rafael, "It's what we birds feel when we fly and dance to music."

"Who says I can't dance?" said Veggie with a slight smile, "I can dance just fine."

Then suddenly Ruby, Emerald and Jasper came dancing past as though their bodies had a mind of their own.

"Yeah but us," said Ruby, "I don't know what... is happening."

"Same here," muttered Jasper.

"Look at our Spix macaw friends over there also dancing," said Emerald with a smile as he struggled to control his body. Cytosine and Thymine came dancing towards Rafael. Nearby Opal, Dash and Sapphire were also dancing as were Blu sand Jewel's chicks. Carla loved this song and was dancing enthusiastically.

"Looks like Carla's favourite subject is music," said Sapphire.

"I can see," said Opal.

Pedro: I'm that samba masta, masta, masta, masta, masta, who shouts fromma ghetto blasta, blasta blasta blasta blasta...

Back with the Spix macaws, Zephyr and Breezy then both invited Cytosine and Thymine to dance with them. Madison was swinging her head this way and that, making her hair-like feathers swish and swing elegantly. She then invited Adenine to dance with her. The three macaws looked at them with uncertainty.

"Whassup, you three?" asked Rafael, "They like you."

"Are you kidding?" snapped Cytosine.

"You should have heard and seen their attitude towards us," muttered Thymine.

"They see us as lowly, because we're pets and they weren't... well Madison almost was owned by humans," said Adenine. Rafael just smiled and said, "Oh, come on, they won't hurt you. Go on you three, dance."

And with that he pushed Cytosine to Breezy, Adenine to Madison and Thymine to Zephyr despite their protests. Close by, Cobalt and Guanine were already dancing away. Thymine and Zephyr then gazed into each other's eyes and began dancing. Breezy and Cytosine and Adenine and Madison did the same. Not too far away, Jewel and Blu were also dancing, as were the other birds in the club.

Nico and Pedro: I wanna party (party), I wanna samba (party), I wanna party (party), I wanna samba (party), I wanna party (party), and live my life (my life), I wanna party (party), and fly...

Zephyr then allowed Thymine to twirl under his wing and move past. Cytosine did the same to Breezy while Adenine pulled Madison backward into a wing, her hair-like feathers swishing in the air. Veggie then saw a flower placed nearby by one of the birds from the audience, so he picked it up and tossed it to Cobalt and Guanine. Cobalt caught it in his beak and continued dancing with Guanine.

Nico and Pedro: hey x6 (Pedro: caw), hey x6 (Pedro: caw)

Thymine then spun Zephyr around and around and flung him into the air. Zephyr then hovered in the bright light just like Jewel did and began to chant "Laya" over and over again, and like Blu was with Jewel, Thymine was mesmerised by him. Cobalt also spun elegantly in the air and mesmerised Guanine while Madison began swishing her hair-like feathers back and forth, amazing Adenine. Cytosine and Breezy, however, continued dancing. Then after Zephyr had touched back down after chanting 'laya', he and Thymine stared into each other's eyes. Guanine and Cobalt did the same as Cobalt landed after spinning in the air. Then Cytosine and Breezy, Madison and Adenine found themselves staring into each other's eyes also as Nico and Pedro continued chanting 'Hey!'

Then Thymine and Zephyr began to slowly close the gap between them but before they could apparently kiss, sunlight suddenly burst into the club as the tents were suddenly torn down, snapping the eight Spix macaws out of the romantic trances.

"Hey, what the-" began Ruby in shock.

"Who turned on the lights?" cried Jasper. Blu and Jewel, Nico, Pedro, Rafael and the other birds, and Dash and Veggie also looked around in shock as the sounds of screeches were heard. A group of cats came running down towards the group over some crates and makeshift instruments and then landed before the crowd of birds. The birds looked at each other as the cats then eyed them with evil, mean eyes. Some of them had cages prepared. When they saw the cats look at the birds like this, Jewel and Blu immediately rushed for their kids, who had been with Sapphire and wrapped their wings around them to protect them in case any cat might pounce on them.

"This is just like when the marmosets attacked us," Blu said under his breath. The birds continued looking at the cats in wonder as a black and white cat walked from the back of the group to the front. It was Otis, and he and his group had followed Ruby, Blu and Rafael's group to the club and have planned an attack. Now they were ready to snatch some birds, among them the thirteen Spix macaws including Blu, Jewel and their kids. As soon as Otis stopped in front of his group, he glared wickedly at Blu, Jewel, their kids, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Adenine, Cobalt, Zephyr, Breezy and Madison one by one and then said, "You thirteen, including YOU five over there (to Blu, Jewel and their kids), are gonna come with us, be caged and taken back to our owners."

Then he looked at Dash and Veggie and said, "While YOU two will also be taken with us back to our owners to be dealt with."

"In your dreams, feline rat," Zephyr and Breezy both snidely retorted.

"Absolutely," said Jewel with a frown.

"Hah, we're not goin' anywhere," added Madison mockingly.

"Certainly not back to that dismal den," added Cobalt.

"We agree," said Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine together. Then Blu glared at Otis.

"And Jewel and I will certainly NOT tolerate YOU feline mousetraps laying a claw on our three kids. If you do, we will be very, very angry, and you will not like us when we're angry."

"Especially me," added Jewel with an aggressive snarl. Sapphire had her huge wings spread out in front of the family protectively.

"I do NOT want to be stuffed into a tiny cage again," she growled. Otis glared at her and smiled evilly.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, hyacinth gemstone," he snickered. Sapphire shook her head in shock as Otis's associates laughed. Veggie and Dash then raised their hairs.

"You even think of doing that to Sapphire again or any other bird including the Spix macaws," snarled Veggie, "I'll be having my greyhound friend chase you down!"

"And you will not be able to escape me because I am super fast," put in Dash. Otis and his group, however, remained unfazed by this intimidation. Then Rafael angrily came up to the group and said, "Look, this place is out of bounds for cats except fruit cat (Veggie) over there. So why don't you do us a favour and return to the lowly alleys where you belong?"

Otis responded by grabbing Rafael by the neck.

"Resistance is futile, big nose. You're gonna be caged no matter WHAT!" he snarled and was about to claw the toucan when a talon grasped his other paw. Cobalt fiercely pulled the black and white cat up close to his face and snarled, "You dare scratch Rafael; I will scratch YOU!"

"So will the rest of us," declared the other birds. Then Nico and Pedro landed beside Opal and prepared for combat.

"Yeah, you pesky Garfields," snorted Pedro. The birds, Veggie and Dash then began a tense face off with Otis and his cat group. Feathers and hair were on end and both groups gazed fiercely at each other. The cats that held the cages ready got prepared to catch some birds as the atmosphere became tenser until Pedro screeched, "Birds versus CAAAAATS!"

"Pounce on THEEEEM!" screeched Otis to the other cats and in an instant, both groups charged at each other and began fighting. Nico and Pedro kicked up some fruit and tossed them at two incoming cats like they did with the marmosets. Pedro tossed up one berry and Nico kicked it into the face of one cat and repeated the trick again to splatter another cat's face. Both cats fell on the floor, stunned and covered in berry juice. Nico and Pedro did a chest bump.

"Yeah, take that, four-legged pests," they snickered together. In the group, Ruby and Jasper were being chased by four more cats until they were confronted by several more cats. Seeing that they were surrounded, both the green-winged and blue-and-gold macaws flew straight upward, sending the cats colliding into each other headfirst as they tried to catch them. Blu and Jewel were hugging their chicks protectively as cats and birds flew everywhere when suddenly they found themselves surrounded by cats. Suddenly Sapphire jumped in and said, "Hey, you pesky feline menaces! Leave the Spix macaw family alone this instant!"

And with that she jumped up and spun in the air with her large wings outstretched like a skydancer. The cats attempted to attack her but were struck back by the hyacinth's outstretched wings. Then Sapphire landed and looked at Blu and Jewel, who nodded to her in approval. Zephyr and Thymine were working together in tripping up more cats that ran past and karate striking more cats that tried to pounce on them. Then one cat jumped on Thymine's back and began to restrain her but Cytosine jumped in and but the cat's tail. The cat rocketed into the air in pain, freeing Thymine. Some more cats were chasing some parakeets but were slipped up by some banana skins by Breezy and Madison. The cats skidded on the skins and bowled into more cats, sending cats flying everywhere. One cat had Cobalt cornered but Cobalt, relying on his acting skills he had learned during his career as an animal show star with Nigel, began to fake an injured wing.

"Oh, don't hurt me, puddy tat," he groaned in mock agony with a wing lying limply by his side, "I've got a broken wing."

The cat looked at him curiously and checking to see if Cobalt truly was injured until the crafty blue macaw jumped into the air and right onto its back! Cobalt then began to ride the cat like a rodeo and send it running into more cats. The cat kicked and bolted like a horse and accidently kicked other cats trying to catch other birds. Emerald and Opal managed to force three more cats toward Cobalt and had them kicked in the face and side by the cat Cobalt was riding on. Then Cobalt acrobatically somersaulted off the cats back when another cat tried jumping on him, sending the second cat colliding with the first. Guanine and Adenine were jumping into the air to avoid more cats while Veggie tossed fruit into the faces of more cats while Dash was barking at some more cats and scaring them off. Then Otis jumped in front of Blu, Jewel, their kids and Sapphire with his comrades that had cages prepared.

"Now you're gonna be caged, Spix macaw family," Otis sneered evilly. "Now would you please kindly come along and step into these cages, if you don't mind."

Jewel just scoffed at him sarcastically.

"Oh, really, rat face?" she snickered, "Do you think I'M gonna simply walk into that rotten, stupid piece of trash? You've got to be joking, you lousy, good-for-nothing ALLEY RAT..."

And with that she explosively lunged at Otis and clawed him across the face. The cats that had the cages tried grabbing Jewel but Blu jumped in and fiercely attacked them by biting their paws. One cat tried grabbing Carla, Bia and Tiago but Sapphire scooped them away in her enormous wings and took them away. Jewel then began ripping fur out of Otis' coat. She was an extremely aggressive bird, a macaw certainly not to be messed with, and she had an extremely strong hatred and aversion to cages and being caged. Trying to cage Jewel could mean facing her fury. Otis screeched as Jewel continued tearing fur out of him and screeching in his face. Otis tried grabbing Jewel but she dodged his attempts. Then after a fierce fight, Jewel kicked Otis into a crate of fruit. Otis looked up dazed but Cobalt came and stuffed a pineapple over his head and knocked him out.

"Wow, you sure were aggressive, Jewel," said Cobalt quite shocked. Jewel just glared proudly at him. Then Blu sent the cage holding cats flying into the crates and the other cats one by one by swooping down and landing a flying kick on each of them. He even locked some of the cats in their own cages. Back with the others, some cats were throttling some birds while some of the birds were tackling and throttling some of the cats. Rafael was waving his enormous beak into the faces of some cats like a pole while Adenine and Madison performed a trick together; Adenine had heaved Madison onto his back and spinning while Madison was 'running' on a surface of cat faces in a full circle. The cats that were kicked fell over stunned. The two macaws then stopped and watched the cats fall down. Then one cat came up and mocked them, saying, "Ya missed, blue feathered thingies..."

But Opal came in and splattered it in the face with a papaya. Tiago then mischievously jumped out of Sapphire's wings and blew a raspberry at another cat.

"Tiago, don't!" cried Blu and rushed to save him as the cat, provoked by Tiago's raspberry, lunged at the young chick. Tiago then giggled and flew upward, sending the cat running straight into a crate of berries. The cat broke through the side and splattered right into the berries. Tiago then laughed as Blu wrapped his wings around him and dragged him away. While they were combating the cats, Dash saw a truck about to leave.

"Guys," he called, "Let's hitch a ride on that truck!"

Veggie, the thirteen Spix macaws, Ruby, Opal, Sapphire, Emerald and Jasper, together with Nico, Rafael and Pedro all looked up and saw the truck. They immediately fled to the vehicle after Dash to board it when suddenly; more cats jumped in and surrounded them. Dash snarled and tackled the circle of cats, sending some flying. Blu, Jewel and their chicks immediately flew off but Carla and Bia were grabbed by one of the cats. They cried, "Mommy, Daddy, HEEELLLP!"

At this Blu came in and bit the cat's tail, making the cat release his two daughters and grab its tail in pain. Veggie had grabbed Breezy and Madison and leapt like a spring over the crowd of cats while Dash picked up Adenine, Thymine and Guanine and hurriedly fled to the truck. Blu and his family landed in the truck first. Bia and Carla were shaken after being grabbed by the cat but were relieved. Then Cobalt, Cytosine and Zephyr appeared, and then Veggie with Madison and Breezy. Then Rafael, Nico and Pedro appeared, followed by Ruby, Emerald, Jasper, Opal and Sapphire (Emerald and Sapphire had managed to fly in until the pain from their wing sprains increased to critical) and then finally, Dash with Cytosine's siblings Guanine, Adenine and Thymine. The greyhound had managed to climb in just as the truck was setting off. The cats tried pursuing the group but the bird friends of the group stopped them by blocking their path and chasing them back the other way, preventing them from reaching the group... and the thirteen Spix macaws. As they saw the cats run off in the opposite direction thanks to their bird friends, Nico and Pedro smiled smugly.

"Looks like we did well," said Nico with a wide smile on his beak.

"Yeah, dem pesky Garfields didn't stand a chance," snickered Pedro.

"Did you see the trick pulled off by Madison and Adenine, guys?" cried Ruby. Adenine and Madison smiled as the group looked at them.

"Excellent teamwork, folks," cried Veggie and then he turned to Cobalt and said, "You with the feigning of a broken wing. That was a stroke of craftiness and genius."

"Acting skills, fruity cat," said Cobalt proudly.

"And Sapphire with the sky-dancer manoeuvre," laughed Blu, "I think you should have done that during the Hot Wings dance."

"Yeah," said Zephyr, "Not to mention Jewel's fierce aggression with that black and white cat."

"I hope that cat learns from the beating I had given him," growled Jewel angrily, "as well as what I'm like with cages. The next time he attempts to get me into a cage, he won't be so lucky."

"Not to mention that cat that grabbed our daughters," put in Blu.

"I thought I was going to get scratched again that time," said Opal with relief. Then Cytosine turned to Rafael and said, "Right, Raf, where to next?"

"I think I'll take you lot to meet Luiz," said Rafael with a smile, "I'm sure he'd love to see Blu and his family again. We haven't seen him for a while."

"Oh you mean that dog that drools all the time?" muttered Jewel remembering the previous encounter.

"But what about our owners?" added Cytosine with a frown, "You've introduced us to Blu and his family, had us dance at Nico and Pedro's disco and now you want us to meet a dog friend of yours?"

"What sort of dog is Luiz?" asked Dash.

"He's a bulldog," replied Rafael with a smile. "And I've been told that he's found a stray greyhound and taken her in for a while. She's a female named Ginger."

When Dash heard this, he was elated.

"I would love to meet Ginger," he said with a smile. "I hope she's nice."

"She is, speedy dog-zalis," said Pedro cheekily, "She would lurve to meet a handsome male greyhound, an' I think you'd be the one."

"You think?" inquired Dash. Veggie smiled and said, "Well, we'll have to see, won't we."

Dash smiled and then Blu gave Veggie a worried look.

"Going back to those pesky cats that attacked us a minute ago," he said, "were they after us, particularly me and my family, Veggie?"

"Yes," said Veggie seriously, "It's just what I've been telling you and Rafael about and it looks like my deductions are right."

"And you must protect your chicks as well," put in Dash, "They had a close shave last time but next time they might not be so fortunate."

Jewel seethed at this remark.

"Well, I'm NOT going to have those disgusting alley-rats caging my son and daughters," she snarled, "I will NOT let that happen, even if it means facing a broken wing again or even death!"

"Well I'm glad you're so determined to protect your three chicks, Jewel," said Veggie, "Because as we've said before, they won't stand a chance in the paws of those smugglers' cats. Tiago was lucky he didn't get himself caught when he provoked one of them."

At this Blu and Jewel looked down at Tiago, who smiled and giggled. Then Rafael began to perk things up and said, "Well, let's move on, shall we? We've got a bulldog to meet so why don't we look forward to that?"

As he said this, the truck drove off into the distance.

**Wow, that was hard but here's chapter 9. So what do you think of my theory behind how Nigel became the villainous bird we know? Stay tuned for chapter 10 **


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10- At Luiz's workshop**

Meanwhile back with Francisco and the others, Francisco had managed to drive the jeep down the road leading to Jack and Jill's destination. It had been quite a rollercoaster ride for the humans and Cayfutray and many of them were relieved to have finally arrived at the place. As soon as Francisco had found a parking spot, he pulled up and parked the jeep. Then the humans and Cayfutray the cat all got out of the jeep. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake staggered out as though they had been on a wild theme park ride. Linda and Fernando also wobbled out of the vehicle with Cayfutray jumping out after them, slightly dizzy and dazed.

"Boy, what a ride," muttered Drake as he felt slightly nauseated, "I feel like I've been on a bumpy rollercoaster."

"I've never liked theme park rides," moaned Susan, "They give me the creeps and at times make me feel sick. I often wonder how those who can manage them tolerate such turbulence."

"I'm sorry for putting you guys through that slightly chaotic ride," said Francisco quite relieved as he also got out of the driver's seat, "But I wanted to urgently get to the place as soon as possible to find the Spix macaws for one and make note of where the burglars' den is for another so the police can find it and catch the criminals."

Then he turned and said to Jack, Cayfutray and Jill and said, "Right, take us to where Susan's pets are being held, you three."

Jack, Jill and Cayfutray nodded and ran off. Francisco, Fernando, Linda, Blake, Drake, Jake, Lucy and Susan followed. The ten people and cat ran around a building and up to a door. Jack and Jill looked through the broken window to make sure no one was in first and then opened the door. Francisco and the others with him followed the twins and cat into the room while Linda and Fernando made note of where the smugglers' den's location outside. Inside the den, Jack, Cayfutray and Jill led Francisco and Cytosine's owners to the storeroom where the birds had been held. However, as they entered the storeroom, they found that it was, to Jack and Jill's surprise, entirely empty! There was no sign of Susan's birds, cat Veggie or dog Dash anywhere in the room.

"What?" gasped Jack in disbelief as he looked in every nook and cranny he could find, "but they were in here! Surely they were."

"We thought they'd be still in here because... we didn't see them among the escaped birds," muttered Jill. Cayfutray was also flummoxed and in disbelief that Susan's pets have escaped. Francisco, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake came into the room, frowning as they listened to Jack and Jill's claims.

"D-don't tell me they've escaped also but have got lost," muttered Jack as he began to feel stressed.

"Well if-if the other birds had managed to find their way back to Tulio's Aviary," muttered Jill, "Then why didn't Susan's pets do the same?"

Then Susan came forward and asked, "Well, how did you two know our pets were in here?"

The twins sighed and then turned to Susan with guilty faces. Cayfutray did the same.

"Because... we're the ones who took them," confessed Jack reluctantly, "as well as the other four Spix macaws."

"What?" snapped Susan in disbelief.

"We were forced into taking them," added Jill, "We're the ones who sneaked into Tulio's Aviary with the cats and stole all the birds including the eight Spix macaws. Dash and Veggie were caught later."

"W-we honestly never meant to hurt anyone or cause anyone stress," put in Jack. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were very angry and upset.

"Well you just did, you two," snorted Lucy.

"How could you do such a thing?" put in Blake. Then Drake picked up one of the cages and continued, "Look, we have a hyacinth macaw for a pet and none of these cages are large enough for her. Don't tell me you've just stuffed Sapphire into one of these tiny cages when you stole her did you?"

Jack and Jill looked at Drake with sorrowful and guilty eyes as Francisco said to them, "I'm afraid you're going to be taken into custody for animal theft and cruelty, you two, once we've caught the thieves and found out where Susan's pets are. Linda and Fernando outside are ringing Tulio about the location of this den."

"Don't you two realise what trouble you've caused us, Jack and Jill?" added Susan with disappointed eyes, "Ruby, Sapphire, Opal, Emerald, Jasper, Veggie, Dash, and Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine are our _pets, _and they've been missing for two days now because of you!"

"Not to mention the other four Spix macaws named Zephyr, Breezy, Madison and Cobalt, the future mates of Susan's four Spix macaws," added Francisco, "And we really needed those eight macaws for our Spix macaw conservation project."

"I-I-I'm really sorry, sir," muttered Jack as tears sprang to his eyes.

"Sorry isn't good enough, young man," replied Francisco sternly with a hand firmly on Jack's shoulder. Suddenly, the group heard the sounds of a door opening and closing and two people talking, as well as some mews and cat paws. At this, Francisco grabbed Susan, Lucy and their triplet cousins and hid behind some crates, leaving Jack and Jill and their cat Cayfutray confused. Then Luke and Vera entered the room with some cats. They had just returned to check and see if they had left anything. When Luke and Vera and the cats with them had entered the den, Linda and Fernando outside had taken cover, and Linda had described the appearances of the two smugglers to Tulio, and that they were accompanied by some cats. However Vera, Luke and the cats were unaware that they were being watched. As they entered the room, they stopped when they saw the twins and Cayfutray.

"What are you two still doing in here?" asked Luke with a frown.

"Where were you three since this morning?" asked Vera. Jack and Jill just gave a sigh.

"We were up late," fibbed Jack to cover up his bringing of Francisco and his group here, "We're sorry. We were extremely tired last night."

"We had a rough night," added Jill, "So we decided to sleep in."

"Well, stop fooling around and help us with what we've got to do," snapped Vera angrily, "We've got a lot of caged birds to collect and load. Looks like our cats have been doing a good job, and I really hope they've caught the thirteen Spix macaws."

"But isn't Carnival tomorrow night?" asked Jill, "The police might have been alerted by now."

"Frank's had a change of plan," replied Luke, "We're going to get the birds to the airport tomorrow. We've scrapped the idea of going through Carnival with disguised floats."

Then he eyed Cayfutray and said, "As for you, you lazy cat, you're not going to get a reward when we've done this job."

Cayfutray lowered her head and ears in disappointment. From behind the crates, Francisco, Susan, Lucy and their triplet cousins were listening intently.

"The thirteen Spix macaws?" whispered Francisco, "Sounds like those smugglers are after Blu, Jewel and their three chicks as well. We can't let them get their hands on those birds..."

"And it sounds like they're aiming to get to the airport before Carnival starts up as well," added Susan quietly. Then Vera said, "Yes, Luke, and we could do with two extra pairs of hands to help us with the task as well. So Jack and Jill, you're up."

"Okay," replied Jack and Jill reluctantly together. The cats also gathered around Cayfutray and told her that they will need her help as well. Cayfutray reluctantly nodded and with that they, Vera, Jack, Jill and Luke left the room, closing the door behind them. Francisco, Susan, Lucy and the triplet boys stood up behind the crates.

"We can't allow that group of smugglers and their cats to take the birds that they've caught, especially the Spix macaws including Blu and his family, to the airport," said Francisco worriedly. "Blu, Jewel and their chicks, together with the other eight macaws, are the last Spix macaws left alive on this planet! If those smugglers take them out of the country, the entire Spix macaw population's doomed."

"Will they be smuggling Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Opal and Jasper out of this country too?" asked Susan equally worried.

"And what might they do to Veggie and Dash?" put in Blake.

"We haven't got time to speculate, you five," said Francisco severely, "Let's get out of here and meet with Linda and Fernando."

And with that the six humans left for outside. Outside the den, Fernando and Linda had seen Vera, Luke, Jack, Jill and their cats (including Cayfutray), get into a stolen car and leave. Then Francisco and the other five with him exited the door.

"Linda," said Francisco, "Did you alert your husband about this place and the two humans and their cats we saw?"

"I did, Francisco," replied Linda, "And Tulio's going to send some police cars down here to secure the place."

"As for the people we saw," added Fernando, "We don't know where they are going but I've a feeling they're returning to catch more birds."

"There's something you need to know, Linda," said Francisco, "They're after your former pet macaw, his mate and three chicks as well."

"What?" gasped Linda in shock.

"We overheard the smugglers' conversation inside the den," said Blake, "and they mentioned the thirteen Spix macaws, which must mean they want Blu and his family captured as well."

"They want all the last Spix macaws caught," said Francisco, "so we must alert Tulio on this as well. Anyway, let's get out of here and pursue the smugglers."

Then the group got back into the jeep to set off after Jack, Jill, Vera, Luke and the cats with them.

Meanwhile, back at the destroyed bird's club, Otis and his group were in a right state. They were all dazed and battered, with some of the cats wobbling around as though drunk. Some of the cats were covered in fruit juice and flesh, while some were covered in scratches and bruises from the fight with the birds a while ago. Otis was severely beaten and had bald patches all over his body. Jewel had really given him a beating and had torn out much of his fur and he was covered in fruit juice like some of the other cats, including a chunk of pineapple around his neck which Cobalt had stuffed over his head after Jewel had beaten him. While Otis and his group were dazed and confused, Brutus and his group turned up. Brutus scanned the torn down tent and scatter of feathers until his eyes came to some blue feathers, which he recognised as Spix macaw feathers. Brutus picked them up and looked at them closely before turning angrily to Otis as he stumbled over a piece of wood. Brutus jumped over to him and grabbed Otis by the neck fur.

"What happened?" he snarled, "Tell me! Why are you and your group battered like this?"

"Er... I don't... know..." moaned Otis. At this, Brutus threw Otis down in frustration when another cat came up to him. She was one of the cats that had the cages prepared but she had taken a beating from some of the birds, and she was covered in scratches and fruit flesh.

"We did attempt to catch a large group of birds including the thirteen Spix macaws, and that cat and greyhound," she explained, "but they outsmarted us and got away."

When Brutus heard this, he lost his temper.

"WHAT?" he screeched, making the cat jump, "What do you mean the Spix macaws got away?"

Then another cat came up. He was the one who attempted to grab Carla and Bia but had received a bite to the tail by Blu, so his tail was still in pain.

"We tried catching the family of macaws but the female and the mother of the three chicks was very fierce," he explained, "She gave Otis a serious beating. I tried catching two of the chicks but the father of the three chicks came and bit my tail."

Then the other cats of Otis' group struggled out of the rubble and gathered around Brutus. Otis struggled to his feat and began to pull at the pineapple piece around his neck. Brutus grabbed the pineapple and pulled it off his neck, before tossing it to one side. Otis gave a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Brutus," he said wearily, "I hate the taste and smell of pineapples."

Then Brutus scanned the group and said, "Well it seems to me that you've tried your best in catching the thirteen Spix macaws and the other birds with them but it seemed that they've fought back with messy results."

Then he jumped onto a broken crate and continued, "Well, I've just had a call from Moggy about Frank's idea of going through Carnival and into the airport like Nigel's group did previously, but he's scrapped the idea and has come up with a change of plan."

Otis' group mumbled at this.

"We're going to go straight to the airport tomorrow once we've caught as many birds as we can," added Brutus, "including the thirteen Spix macaws, but we MUST catch those Spix macaws as soon as we can. I think from now on, we're going to work together and with our owners to catch and cage those birds and get them to the airport. Also, Frank wants us back by his side as soon as possible. He feels we've been searching up and down the city for birds long enough. Does everyone get what I'm saying?"

The cats of Otis' group nodded reluctantly. Otis himself did the same. Brutus smiled and said, "Good."

Then he leapt off the crate and said, "Right, let's go and meet up with Frank and the other cats!"

The other cats screeched in cheering and they followed Brutus and his subgroup and left the remains of the _Paradise _bird club, but quite wobbly due to the injuries they had received from the fight with the birds.

Back with Ruby and Cytosine's group, the truck on which Ruby, Cytosine, Blu and his family had jumped on drove down a street and parked outside an entrance to a familiar building. Rafael fluttered out of the truck followed by Nico and Pedro, and Blu and his family. Dash, Veggie, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Opal and Jasper hopped out of the truck's trailer followed by Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Zephyr, Madison, Breezy and Cobalt the Spix macaws. The fifteen animals then walked up to Rafael as he waited at the entrance to the building. This building was Luiz's workshop, where Blu and Jewel were unchained.

"Welcome to Luiz's workshop, folks," said Rafael with a smile and a 'this is the place' gesture. Cytosine and his group looked at the place wide eyed in wonder.

"So this is the place where your bulldog friend lives?" asked Dash. Blu walked up to him.

"It's also the place where Jewel and I were unchained," he said, "Luiz had a table saw which he intended to use to cut through the chain but things went chaotic and we ended up separated by his drool."

"Eek, you must have had a close shave with that sharp serrated blade," said Veggie with a shiver.

"Several times," said Blu as he cringed at the memory. He did come into contact with the blade but it only sawed off a feather from his crest, so Blu did have a brush with certain death with the blade.

"Wait, does Luiz drool a lot?" asked Zephyr.

"He does, yes," said Rafael, "but he's a very friendly dog. Come on, let's go and meet him."

And with that the toucan led Cytosine and his group into the workshop. Nico and Pedro fluttered by as the animals walked through the door. As soon as they were all inside, Rafael began to call for Luiz.

"Luiz," he called, "Hey, Luiz, I have a surprise for you."

Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine then looked around. The workshop was quite untidy, and there were oil bottles and tools everywhere.

"Quite a dismal place," said Cytosine.

"It looks creepy," said Guanine.

"So where is this Luiz dog?" asked Adenine. Blu walked up to him and said, "You'll see when he comes out, Ade."

"I initially thought he was a human when I first met him," said Jewel, "but when I found out that he was a bulldog, I was surprised."

"There are a lot of dogs here in this city, aren't there?" asked Dash.

"Dogs, cats, pigeons and some other animals adapted to living in cities and towns," said Blu, "But the most dangerous animals are dogs and cats, though there are few exceptions: with Luiz, Veggie, Dash, and another greyhound named Ginger being four of them."

"Oh yeah," said Jasper with a frown, "Veggie's the only cat we know to be bird friendly, but every other cat we've met attempted to pounce on us back in London."

"Most cats are just left to wander around and cause nuisance," said Veggie with a frown, "We often had stray cats foraging in our back garden for food and believe me; they often caused a right mess much to our owners' frustration."

"I still find it hard to believe that not all cats are bird-eating vermin," said Madison, "since we birds are often on the natural menu of cats."

"Have you ever tasted a fish, Veggie?" asked Blu, "Any tuna or sardines?"

"I've never consumed any fish in my life either," said Veggie, "Don't like the taste of the things. I also haven't attempted to eat any mice, even though I still chase them."

"Now that's unusual," said Cobalt. Just then Rafael returned with his bulldog friend Luiz. Luiz was a chubby bulldog with white and brown fur and brown eyes. Just as Rafael had said, he drooled a lot.

"These," said Rafael with a smile "are Cytosine and his group. They come from across the Atlantic Ocean. With them are four more Spix macaws named Zephyr, Breezy, Cobalt and Madison."

Luiz looked at each of the newcomers and widened his eyes in shock when he saw Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Zephyr, Breezy, Madison and Cobalt.

"Wait a minute," he said in shock, "Are you sures dese eight are Spix macaws?"

"They certainly are," said Blu, "Looks like we're not the last Spix macaws in the world after all."

Then Luiz looked at Blu, Jewel and their three chicks and smiled.

"Hey, Blu, my friend!" the bulldog laughed, going over to the Spix macaw family. He then pulled Blu into a hug. "How are you doin'?"

"Er... sort of... fine," stammered Blu awkwardly. He found hugs somewhat embarrassing and uncomfortable. Then Luiz turned to look at Jewel and her chicks. Jewel backed away, not wanting to be smothered with drool.

"And wooow," cried Luiz in awe, "Look at your cute lil' chicks. They've grown!"

Carla, Bia and Tiago smiled shyly and lifted a wing to say 'hi'. Then Luiz turned to Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Opal and Sapphire and smiled excitedly.

"And I see you've got a green-winged, blue-and-gold and Buffon's macaw as new friends," said Luiz, "Am I right?"

Then he looked at Sapphire and Opal and said, "And I've never seen these types of macaw before. What are they?"

"I'm a hyacinth macaw," replied Sapphire, "and Opal here," she put a wing around Opal's back, "is an unnatural harlequin macaw."

"I'm produced by the crossing of a green-winged and a blue-and-gold," said Opal. Luiz was amazed at Opal's colourful plumage.

"Wow," he said, "so basically if a green-winged macaw and a blue-and-gold macaw had chicks, those chicks would come out looking like you?"

"The harlequin is not the only hybrid produced by humans," said Emerald, "There are other types of hybrid macaws produced by crossing various different species. I've met a ruby macaw before. His hybrid was the result of a crossing of a scarlet macaw and a green-winged."

"Interesting," said Luiz with an intrigued smile.

"It's amazing what genetic variety God has given us animals," said Dash, "especially what we see in nature, the variety of all the different animal kinds adapted to different niches via natural selection."

"It's also how we birds had evolved from certain dinosaurs, Dash," said Blu.

"We don't agree with that theory," said Ruby, "we agree with natural selection as observed like in the finches but we don't believe that transitions like from dinosaur to bird for example can arise via natural selection over millions of years."

"Well, there's evidence in the fossil record that it did happen, Ruby," said Blu, "Have a read of a book about the fossil record. I'll take you to Linda's new bookstore sometime in the future. She's got loads of books on various sciences including palaeontology."

"No thank you," replied Ruby. Then Luiz turned to look at the eight Spix macaws.

"Goin' back to dese eight," he said, "are they newly found individuals of Spix macaws? I-I thought Blu, Jewel, Tiago, Carla and Bia were the last Spix macaws in the world."

"More like five of the last thirteen Spix macaws in the world," said Cobalt.

"The ornithologists were planning on getting us eight paired up to have more chicks," said Cytosine quite nervously. Zephyr just shook his head in disgust. Then Breezy took offense at Luiz's drooling.

"Will you keep that disgusting salivary problem to yourself," she snarled at Luiz as he approached her. Luiz was deeply hurt by Breezy's scathing comment.

"That's not very nice!" he said, his voice on edge, "I can't help it. It's a medical condition."

He then looked down with a sad facial expression, bringing Rafael into the scene. Cobalt nudged Breezy harshly.

"How dare you say that!" he said angrily. Breezy just gave him an angry look.

"He's a very sensitive dog," said Blu equally angry, "He hates having harsh things said to him."

"Come on, Luiz, let's move you to a quiet place," said Rafael comfortingly. Luiz then looked at Breezy and said, "That blue macaw's a meanie, man."

He then left with Rafael to somewhere so that Rafael could coax him. Suddenly a female voice said, "What's going on, Luiz? Who are you talking to?"

The group jumped. Rafael realised it was the voice of Ginger, the stray greyhound.

"That was Ginger, folks," he said and then he called, "Hang on, Ginger, I'm just taking Luiz to a quiet place to settle down. He's just had his feelings hurt."

Then a ginger-coloured greyhound emerged from behind a car. She looked exactly like Dash but had ginger fur, brown eyes and was slightly smaller. She smiled at Luiz and Rafael.

"Sorry, I wondered who Luiz was talking to," she said delightfully. Then she saw Luiz's sad face.

"Oh, I see what you mean," she said, "Go on, take him to somewhere quiet and coax him. I'll meet the newcomers myself."

Rafael nodded and left with Luiz, leaving Ginger to meet Blu and his new friends. As she stood before Cytosine and his group, she was amazed.

"Wowee," she said in shock when she saw eight more Spix macaws among the group, "So it seems that Blu and his family aren't alone after all."

Then she turned to Blu, Jewel and their chicks and said, "I've heard a lot about you five. Luiz told me about the two of you being chained together and how he assisted in the rescue of Jewel from the group of smugglers as they carried her through the Carnival."

"There's now another group of smugglers at work," said Dash dismally. Ginger shook her head in disbelief.

"There's what?" she shouted, "That can't be! I thought the smugglers have been arrested and imprisoned."

"But it's true, Ginger," said Jewel. Then she turned to Cytosine and said, "Tell her Cytosine."

Cytosine came forward and began to explain everything to Ginger.

"It all started just after me, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine were put into an artificial habitat in an aviary to mate with Zephyr, Breezy, Cobalt and Madison," he said, "And all eight of us were captured by two people and some cats, and surprisingly, Ruby, Opal, Sapphire, Emerald and Jasper, alongside other birds from Tulio's Aviary. Veggie and Dash then got themselves caught shortly after the smugglers had uncovered us."

"And the way they treated us birds was absolutely awful, honestly," said Sapphire, "I was stuffed into a cage that was way too small for me."

"And some of us suffered injuries and sprained wings," added Adenine, "Over half of us were grounded as a result, and we still are. Opal got a scratch down her flank."

And with that Opal lifted her wing and showed Ginger the scratch which, by now, was healing but was still red and crusty. Ginger was horrified when she heard the summary of Cytosine and his group's story and saw Opal's scratch.

"Good grief," she said with a gasp, "It's hard to believe what sort of cruelty animal thieves often inflict on their stolen creatures."

"Blu and Jewel have suffered considerably as well," said Cytosine, "they were chained together when the first group of smugglers caught them."

"A deadly cockatoo was among them," put in Ruby, "but in this second group of smugglers, there's a large group of cats helping their owners."

"I've heard the full story," said Ginger, "but to hear that another group of smugglers is at work, it's hard to believe."

Then Ginger looked at Madison, Zephyr, Breezy and Cobalt and raised her eyebrows in wonder and surprise.

"And it seems that Blu and Jewel are not the last blue macaws on earth after all," she said. Then she looked closely at Madison and said, "You remind me of a blue macaw that I had to care for when I was a young puppy. He was only a young chick back then."

"Blue macaw?" asked Madison.

"What did he look like and what was his name?" asked Cobalt.

"He had dark blue feathers just like Blu and erm..." began Ginger.

"Madison," said Madison.

"... and his crest was quite like hers, but he was very young at the time," continued Ginger. "And his eyes were blue. I can't even remember his name but him and me, we had the same owner. That owner was a young human girl, probably around preteen age."

"That sounded nice," said Guanine with a smile. Ginger, however, shook her head with a frown.

"It may sound nice, but that girl was a horrible owner to the both of us," replied the female greyhound sadly, "She was absolutely cruel to us, but especially to the macaw."

Ruby and her group gasped in horror.

"What did she do to you and the macaw?" asked Ruby.

"She treated me like dirt but the macaw," explained Ginger, "he was treated even worse. He was kept in a small cage, not fed properly, never let out very much and was force-fed crackers. The girl owner had taken pleasure in abusing the macaw and kept saying 'Polly wanna cracker, Polly wanna cracker' and poking him with these crackers. Polly wasn't his name, however, he had a different name, but he loathed being called Polly."

"What an awful, awful owner to do that to a parrot," said Jasper angrily. "Wasn't that kid even disciplined not to be so cruel to animals?"

"I doubt it," said Ginger sadly.

"I've read a book called _Black Beauty,_" said Thymine, "it's a book about an all-black horse and his life, and there's a chapter in which a boy got seriously disciplined just for pulling wings off some flies."

"It's important that children learn not to be so cruel to animals," added Veggie angrily, "especially when there's sadism involved. I think that girl should have really been taught a downright good lesson not to abuse animals."

"Anyway, continue, Ginger," said Ruby.

"So yes, this girl was awful especially to the parrot she called Polly," said Ginger, "And because he wasn't fed properly, I looked for every scrap of proper fruit around the house and fed the macaw just to keep him alive. And then one day, when things got really bad, I decided to let the macaw free because he was getting worse and more bedraggled. I taught him how to fly and just set him free, and I never saw him again. Then I myself ran away and became a stray greyhound for many years and here I am."

As she finished her story, Cytosine and his group clapped slightly.

"Yes, God's creatures were not meant to be abused," said Jasper boldly, "And I think it would have served that girl right if she had broken down in tears after finding Polly gone."

"His name wasn't Polly, Jasper," said Ginger.

"So, what is your next move?" asked Dash. Ginger sighed sadly.

"I'm afraid I'm currently lost and unsure of what to do next," she replied in a sad tone of voice, "I've spent much of my life living around the streets of Rio as a stray, foraging for food and longing to be adopted by a loving owner or owners and possibly find a nice, sweet greyhound to start a family with."

Dash then began to sympathise with her when Veggie called his attention with "Psst."

"Don't count on you being that greyhound, Dash," he whispered into his ear.

"I didn't think that," replied Dash in a whisper.

"Well, I can tell you were," said Veggie sternly. Dash just looked at him. Then Blu and Jewel came forward and told Ginger about their chicks.

"Carla seemed to have taken an interest in music," said Jewel proudly, "Bia's becoming interested in biology and Tiago's a mischievous little chick."

"Yup," said Blu, "He played a prank on Cobalt after he told us of his backstory on our way to here."

Ginger smiled and looked at the three chicks.

"But they're still too young for their actual features inherited from both of you to be obvious, aren't they?" she asked. "The only features visible are their eye and feather colours. Bia and Tiago's eyes are brown and Carla's is teal."

"It's possible that one or both of their daughters will take on Jewel's body shape when they get older," said Sapphire, "and Tiago would probably get a stocky build like Blu."

Carla, Bia and Tiago looked at Sapphire curiously.

"When Bia was born, her feathers were the same shade of blue as Blu's," said Jewel, "But they've become a bit lighter. Carla's has become a bit lighter in blue as well. Tiago's feathers, however, have remained the same shade of blue."

"We thought we were going to have two sons and a daughter at first," said Blu, "but when it turned out that one of the males was actually a girl, that's when we realised that we're only going to have one son."

Then Veggie said, "Anyway, Ginger, going back to the second group of smugglers, the thirteen Spix macaws including Blu and his family here are seriously sought after by those thieves and their cats because they're the last Spix macaws on the planet. Our deductions proved right when we were attacked by a group of cats at Nico and Pedro's _Paradise _club."

"Are they?" gasped Ginger. Then she became more understanding.

"Well, I'm not really surprised that the smugglers want the Spix macaws so badly," she said, "They're a rare bird, and they're worth loads of reals." (Reals are Brazilian currency)

Just then Rafael returned with Luiz after coaxing him. He smiled when he saw Ginger conversing with the newcomers.

"Well, Ginger, glad to see you talking with our new friends," he said with a smile.

"No problem," replied Ginger, "How's Luiz?"

"Still a bit hurt from that comment," said Luiz still offended from Breezy's demeaning comment about his drooling. Cytosine raised an eyebrow.

"Is he sensitive?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Rafael, "particularly to negative comments. He almost declined unchaining Blu and Jewel when Jewel said something about his drooling."

Breezy just gave a sigh and said sarcastically, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise Luiz boy was sensitive. It's just his drooling that's repulsive."

"It's common in his breed, Breezy," snapped Dash crossly, "and please don't offend him again."

Breezy just scowled at him. Then Veggie cupped a paw and whispered into Dash's ear, "I hate to admit but I kind of agree. Luiz's drooling is quite gross."

Dash only gave the cat an angry look, making Veggie flinch slightly.

"It's actually a medical condition," said Luiz, "Not so much a breed trait, greyhound."

Dash just shrugged. Then Luiz began to examine Cytosine and his group one by one.

"So, tell me more about yourselves, my newcomers," said Luiz with a smile, "I'm sure you folks have had an interesting adventure."

"They have, actually," said Ginger on their behalf, "They told me that they've just escaped from a new group of smugglers and have had a close shave with some of their cats."

"Smugglers?" gasped Luiz in shock, "Not again!"

"I'm afraid so, Luiz," said Veggie.

"Huh, the last time any smugglers was involved was when we were tryin' to rescue Jewel from that chicken float after she was captured by that cockatoo," said Luiz, recalling his role in helping Blu, Nico, Pedro and Rafael on their rescue attempt of Jewel months ago, especially when Blu hitched a ride in his head fruit since he still didn't fly back then. Then he smiled widely and said, "But I sure couldn't help gettin' my freak on. I hope to do the same again dis year."

Then he turned to Rafael and asked, "Hey, Rafie, when's Carnival? It's not too far away, ain't it?"

"It's tomorrow night, Luiz," replied Rafael, "Not tonight, tomorrow night."

"Right, I'd better get me costume ready for it," said Luiz. Then he turned to Cytosine and his group again and asked, "So, are you lot here for Carnival? It's one of the biggest parades in the woo-o-o-orld."

"No, actually," said Guanine, "Our main reason for our being here was to meet up with Zephyr, Breezy, Cobalt and Madison to breed and have chicks with them."

"Here we go again," muttered Zephyr.

"Have any of you ever been to Carnival before?" asked Luiz. All except Cobalt shook their heads.

"I have," said Cobalt, "I starred in an animal dance with Nigel the cockatoo as the main leader."

"And he has some amazing dance moves as well," said Guanine with a smile, "especially his spinning in the air. Dod you learn how to do those flying tricks when you had that career, Cobalt?"

Cobalt nodded. Then Ginger spoke up.

"I did get a glimpse of Carnival," she said, "But I was too busy foraging for food. I wasn't actually in it."

"It's where you said you met your mate Eva, isn't it, Rafie?" asked Emerald.

"It certainly was," said Rafael with a smile, "It was a romantic time."

"I wonder how Eva is doing now back at your place," said Madison, "I hate to think that she's so overburdened by almost 30 kids. Do you really think you ought to look for babysitters, Raf?"

"I did consider it but I'm quite fine thanks, Maddie," said Rafael proudly.

"Why don't you take the whole lot to Carnival one day?" suggested Ruby.

"I might do when I get the chance, Rube," said Rafael.

"Yeah, but first," said Jasper sternly, "discipline your kids, especially those that keep ripping feathers out of other birds and fur out of mammals."

"I will when I get the chance, Jasper," said Rafael slightly annoyed. Cobalt just shook his head in annoyance at this. Then Luiz noticed a scratch down Opal's flank.

"What's happened there, rainbow macaw?" he asked as he moved a paw to inspect it. Opal backed away.

"I was scratched by one of the cats when I was trying to set some captured birds free at the smugglers' den, Luiz," she explained.

"And some of us had suffered sprained wings as we were forcibly stuffed back into the cages," said Adenine. Luiz was horrified.

"We're still grounded as the sprains still cause too much pain when we tried to fly," added Thymine,

"That's why we wanted to go back to Tulio's Aviary to be checked up."

Luiz frowned and said, "Huh, those smugglers sure are cruel, ain't they?"

"Tell us about it," snapped Jewel, "Especially when the previous group of smugglers had chained me and Blu together."

"And to add," said Veggie, "I think those cats have not given up after the little fight we had with them. I think they're still after us, especially these thirteen Spix macaws."

"Yes, the sooner we get back to Tulio's Aviary," said Cytosine, "The better."

"I bet our owners are seriously worried about us now," put in Sapphire.

"You will be reunited with your owners eventually," said Rafael, "I promise. I just wanted to introduce you folks to my dog friend Luiz."

Luiz then smiled and said, "Well, it sure is nice to meet you lot, and especially Blu and his family and I'm glad that your chicks are doin' well. Anyway, if you don't mind, I've got some things to do."

And with that he left. Dash turned round and saw outside that it was nearing sunset. He walked out of the door to have a look at the sky.

"And I think it's getting late," he said. "We should really be getting back to our owners."

Rafael then came up to him and said, "But wouldn't you guys risk facing those cats again? Since over half of your bird friends cannot fly, I think it's unwise for you lot to leave Luiz's workshop alone. Honestly, those cats will never find us here. They don't know where this place is."

Dash gave a sigh and looked at the toucan. Then Cobalt came out and smiled.

"What a beautiful sunset," he crooned, "and it looks like it's going to be a clear night as well. I would love to have a look at the stars with Guanine."

When Guanine heard this, she was a bit shocked. Nico and Pedro then came up with smiles on their beaks.

"Looks like Coby's becomin' your lovehawk, Guanie," said Pedro cheekily. Guanine looked at the cardinal and canary with surprised eyes.

"What do you mean, Pedro?" she asked. Veggie and Sapphire came up to her.

"Ahh, it seems Cobalt is twitterpatted," said Veggie with a smile.

"Twitterpatted?" asked Guanine, "With whom, Veggie?"

"I think he's twitterpatted with one of my blue macaw friends who has a flower-like crest," said Veggie teasingly, "wears a green ribbon and has green eyes."

Guanine shook her head in shock.

"He's what with whom?" she asked again slightly louder. Nico then perched on her shoulder and spun his bottle-cap hat in one wing.

"Cobalt is fallin' in lurve with you, ma baby bird," he said cheekily. Guanine shook her head disagreeing.

"I doubt it," she denied, "I don't think Cobalt and I would ever become a couple."

"Hah," laughed Sapphire cheekily, "Denial's not gonna help it, Guanine. Don't ever count on that remark."

Then she, Nico, Pedro and Veggie began to sing teasingly, "Guanine and Cobalt sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."

Guanine frowned.

"Yeah, right you four," she said slightly sarcastically. Then she walked off outside to see the sunset. Ginger came up and smiled.

"I think Guanine and Cobalt isn't the only pair of macaws who seem to be falling in love," she said and pointed to Adenine and Madison. Veggie, Sapphire, Nico and Pedro looked at Adenine and Madison and they, too, seem to be showing signs of falling in love with each other. The other two pairs, Thymine and Zephyr, and Breezy and Cytosine also seemed to be showing signs. However their signs were not as obvious. Blu and Jewel smiled as they looked down from the roof at Cobalt and Guanine as they looked at each other longingly. They had perched on the roof to watch the sunset.

"Boy, what a beautiful sunset, Blu," crooned Jewel romantically.

"Yeah," said Blu as Jewel leaned against his shoulder, "Wish we could watch more of these together."

"I wonder if our two daughters and sons would get chicks to play with when the eight Spix macaws pair up and breed," said Blu, "should any more Spix macaws be never found in the wild."

"Hey, don't speculate, Blu," said Jewel, "it's a possibility that Cytosine and his sisters Thymine and Guanine, and brother Adenine could become the mates of Zephyr, his sister Breezy, Cobalt and Madison. Who knows?"

As they were talking, Jasper and Ruby flew up to the roof and joined the pair.

"It's a high possibility," said Jasper with a smile, "I've just seen Cobalt and Guanine look at each other romantically outside."

"And Zephyr and Thymine, Breezy and Cytosine don't seem too far off from falling in love as well," added Ruby, "Their signs are very subtle but from what I can tell..."

"And Adenine and Madison..." added Jasper, "They seem to be showing signs of affection as well."

Then Jewel remembered the kids.

"Oh, it's our kids' bedtime," she said, "I just remembered."

And with that she flew back into the garage to put Carla, Bia and Tiago to bed. Blu then looked at Jasper and Ruby.

"Are you two, Opal, Sapphire and Emerald planning on finding mates and having chicks too?" he asked.

"Well, unlike you Spix macaws," said Ruby, "our species is not close to the brink of extinction. But us starting families as well, we haven't decided on that yet."

"I would rather be an 'uncle' to Cytosine and his siblings' chicks rather than have chicks of my own," said Jasper, "And so would Sapphire, Opal and Emerald. As for Veggie and Dash, they did say to me that they would like to find mates and kittens and puppies as well."

"I think Ginger would be the right dog for Dash," said Blu, "but Veggie, I'm not so sure about. Those cats of the smugglers would definitely be a no-no since they'd be a bad influence for him."  
>"Absolutely," said Ruby, "Especially their involvement in animal theft."<p>

"Actually, one of our owners did mention finding a mate for Dash and Veggie so that they could have a family once or twice," said Jasper, "So it's seems plausible."

"You didn't think you'd be a family man did you when you lived in the US with Linda," said Ruby. Blu shook his head.

"I didn't think there'd be another macaw like me, to be honest," he said, "certainly not a female."

"I suppose Jewel thought the same thing when she was torn from a flock of Spix macaws by a forest fire," said Ruby, "Until she was caught and brought to Tulio's Aviary to meet you."

"I wouldn't have wanted to be in her feathers," said Jasper, "It must have been a terrible tragedy to lose all her family and friends in one day."

Then Blu smiled and said, "Well, I'm off to say goodnight to my chicks. My mate Jewel will have tucked them into bed by now. I'll see you shortly."

And with that, he left, leaving Jasper and Ruby to gaze at the sunset from the roof alone. The sun had almost completely set by now and darkness was slowly creeping into the sky. Stars were coming out a few at a time as the sun's light faded.

**Right, that's it for chapter 10. Stay tuned for chapter 11. By the way, can you guess what macaw Ginger was describing? I bet you can tell who it is!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11- snatched by cat paws!**

So Ruby, Cytosine and their group stayed at Luiz's workshop for a longer while. It was now very dark, and the stars were out in their full display as it was a cloudless sky. Cobalt and Guanine were out on the roof admiring the stars. Ruby had carried Guanine out onto the roof for her sprain still rendered her grounded. Beside them, Adenine and Madison were also stargazing. Zephyr, Thymine, Cytosine and Breezy had also just walked out into the street to look at the stars. Guanine and Cobalt were sitting together.

"You know something, Guanine," said Cobalt, "I've always wanted to look at a starry sky like this but never really had the chance. I was too consumed with my life with Nigel as a sidekick and co-actor in his shows and dances and was then too distraught after Nigel's betrayal and downfall after Petricious displaced him and me, especially him, from fame."

"Have you ever wanted to look at the stars with someone of your own species?" asked Guanine.

"Sometimes," said Cobalt, "but because we Spix macaws are so rare, even when I was very young, the chances were very slim. I waited for several years after being caught by the ornithologists after my escape from the smugglers' den but they never did have any success."

"But why didn't you pair up with Madison or Breezy?" asked Guanine, "Zephyr would have loved to have you as a brother-in-law."

"We weren't ready for reproduction, Guanine," said Cobalt, "What conservationists often fail to realise is animals don't reproduce unless they're ready. I never really thought about becoming a family man like Blu did."

"Maybe sometime in the future," said Guanine. Then she looked up at thee starry sky. It was an awesome sight. There was not a cloud in the sky, so there were dozens of stars visible. A large dense sea of stars appeared to flow across the sky, and was just visible through the artificial lights of the city of Rio, such as street lamps. Guanine knew what this was as she had been reading an astronomy book back in London. "That's the Milky Way," she said, "Isn't it amazing how God's celestial creation becomes visible when there is no little or no light pollution."

"That's the problem with cities like Rio de Janeiro," said Cobalt, "The lights from human homes and streetlights outshine the stars."

"I wonder if Bia is into astronomy," said Guanine, "I would love it if she was. I'd be able to do some stargazing with her."

"I wouldn't mind stargazing with my chicks if I decide to have any," said Cobalt. Then he and Guanine looked at each other. Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Jasper flew up through the hole in the roof of the workshop and saw Guanine and Cobalt talking together. They also saw Madison and Adenine talking about a metre away. The other four Spix macaws Cytosine, Thymine, Zephyr and Breezy, however, were on the ground.

"I think its goin' well, eh, Rafie?" said Pedro with a wide smile.

"Why don't we spruce up the atmosphere wi a lil' romantic music," said Nico.

"Good idea," said Pedro. Rafael looked at Cobalt and Guanine.

"Cobalt's doing quite well," he said with a smile, "So is Adenine with Madison. They're doing better than Blu when he tried courting Jewel, but still, they could do with a little help from us."

Then he nodded to Pedro who stepped forward and started up a rap song. However, it didn't fit the scene quite well. Nico decided to help.

"Er, Pedro," he said, "I think that's got far too little romantic element to it. I'm not criticising you or anything but... hang on."

Then Jasper brought up a makeshift guitar made from a metal tambourine-shaped disc and strings stretched across its diameter.

"I think this will do to aid in your romantic atmosphere, Nico," he said. Nico smiled.

"Thanks, my blue-and-gold friend," said Nico with a wide smile. Jasper nodded and stepped back. Then Nico fluttered onto the 'guitar' and began flicking the strings with his feet. The strings had been tied at different tensions so that they could give a different pitch when plucked. Cobalt and Guanine stopped talking and looked behind to see Nico playing a romantic tune. Nico and Pedro gave them the thumbs up and smiled. Then Rafael flew down and hovered beside the gutter.

"Hey, Cobalt," he said. Cobalt looked at the toucan.

"Tell Guanine 'you have beautiful eyes'," suggested Rafael. Cobalt thought over this suggestion.

"Um, okay," he said. Then he looked at Guanine and said but rather shyly, "Er... you have beautiful eyes."

"Oh, thanks, Cobalt," said Guanine slightly touched.

"Ju-just try to sound a bit more confident, Cobalt," said Rafael encouragingly.

"I bet they're like little emeralds sparkling in the moon," said Cobalt still quite shyly, "er..."

"You're doing fine, Cobalt," said Rafael, "Now just tell her how you feel."

Cobalt then looked at Guanine and said, "Guanine,"

"Yes," said Guanine.

"I-I-I just like to tell you that uh... um..." muttered Cobalt, but then shyness got the better of him.

"Oh, I can't say it," he said, giving up. Guanine smiled.

"Well, I've been told that you were showing feelings for me," she said. Cobalt shook his head in shock.

"Do you really mean that?" he said surprised. Rafael then flew over to Pedro and Jasper and landed beside them.

"He almost had it, but he became too shy," he said.

"He did well for a start, though," said Jasper. Then Rafael turned his attention to Adenine and Madison and flew over to help them. Adenine was looking into Madison's eyes.

"You know something, I've never seen a bird with eye colours quite like yours," he said, "They're almost chartreuse in colour; a shade of green-yellow."

"Oh, I'm not the only bird with this eye colour, Adenine," said Madison, "My mother had this eye colour as well."

"And your hair-like feathers," said Adenine, "Are they unique to your family line?"

"We've never seen other Spix macaws with hair like feathers outside our family at all," said Madison, "So yeah, I think we are unique. A cousin of mine also had hair-like feathers, but his were shorter and stopped only as far as his neck. His eyes were also blue."

"You know, I wonder if he's the macaw that was abused by this girl Ginger told us about," said Adenine. Madison shook her head.

"I'd hate to think that it was, but it sounded awfully familiar," she said. Then Rafael got their attention.

"You're doing well, Adenine," said the toucan, "I can see you're very confident."

"What's Big Nose doing nosing into our conversation?" asked Madison with a frown. Then she turned to Rafael and said, "Will you mind keeping that orange and black beak out of our conversation please? It's so rude."

"Sorry, Maddie, I'm just helping Adenine court you," said Rafael. Then he flew off to check on Cytosine, Breezy, Zephyr and Thymine. Madison looked back at Adenine and frowned.

"What's with him?" she asked.

"Courtship advisor," replied Adenine. On the ground in front of the door to Luiz's workshop, Zephyr and Thymine were also looking at the stars, as were Cytosine and Breezy.

"Sigh, I'll be glad to get back to the rainforest as soon as my sister's wing is checked up," said Zephyr.

"You will," said Thymine. Then Rafael called Zephyr's attention.

"Hey, Zephyr," he said, "Tell Thymine how you feel."

Then he turned to Cytosine and said, "You as well, Cyto. Tell Breezy how you feel."

Zephyr looked back at Thymine and said, "Looks like Rafael's up to his silliness again."

"He's only trying to suggest things to help us," said Thymine. Then she and Zephyr looked into each other's eyes. They were staring at each other and were thinking the same thing: _am I falling in love with you?_

Cytosine and Breezy were also in the same mood but didn't show it. Despite Rafael's encouragement, Cytosine didn't seem to have the confidence to tell Breezy how he felt about her. Rafael then flew back onto the roof as Nico continued playing on the makeshift guitar.

"How are Zephyr, Cytosine, Breezy and Thymine doing, Rafael?" asked Pedro.

"I think they're doing fine but it's hard to tell if they're showing signs of affection or not," replied Rafael.

"Maybe they're not ready to show them yet?" asked Jasper.

"Possibly," replied Rafael. Inside, Dash and Ginger were talking. It seemed that Dash had taken a sudden like in Ginger and felt serious sympathy for her, and Ginger felt like that she took a liking to Dash. Veggie, Sapphire, Opal, Emerald and Ruby were watching the two greyhounds as they conversed with one another.

"Looks like Dash and Ginger like each other," said Veggie.

"Looks like it," said Sapphire. Ruby then turned round to check on Zephyr, Cytosine, Breezy and Thymine outside to see if they were alright. In a makeshift bird's bed, Jewel was checking on the sleeping chicks when Blu came up beside her. He had just been checking on the eight Spix macaws outside.

"Looks like our eight new friends are falling in love, my precious Jewel," said Blu romantically.

"Are they?" said Jewel with a smile, "Good."

"I hope sooner or later they'll become mates and we'll be having more chicks to add to our population," said Blu. Then he turned to Jewel and asked, "You know, when you couldn't find any other macaw like yourself, did you think you were the very last Spix macaw alive?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, Blu," said Jewel sadly, "It just hurts too much."

Blu raised an eyebrow in wonder. Whenever Jewel thought of her tragic past, it always made her shiver and weep. The event involving the fire caused by the loggers which separated her from her family and friends still troubled her greatly, and she still occasionally had nightmares about it. Zephyr and Breezy also had occasional nightmares about the fiery disaster, while Cobalt was still troubled by bad dreams about Nigel and his betrayal. Of all macaws and other Brazilian birds that have suffered at the talons of that cockatoo, Cobalt had suffered the worst, even more so than Blu or Jewel, or even that military macaw who kept repeating 'Who's a pretty bird? I'm a pretty bird!" and laughing uncontrollably. Since that fateful night when Nigel joined the team of smugglers, Cobalt had found it very difficult to make and keep friends, especially close friends. He had felt all alone and lost. Now that he was spending his first romantic time with a female of his species (Guanine), he had improved a lot. While Blu was wondering why Jewel found it difficult to talk about her history, he decided to cheer her up.

"Why don't we go out and see the stars, sweetheart?" he asked. Jewel looked at him and smiled. Then the two macaws flew to outside to join the other eight adult Spix macaws to look at the stars, while Nico and Pedro continued playing their love song. At this moment, Frank's cats were taking their stash of caged birds to the location where they would meet Frank. Although they had caught a lot of birds, there was still no sign of the thirteen Spix macaws. Brutus was getting very tense and impatient. While the cat subgroups had trekked from various spots in Rio to meet Brutus and place their captured birds with the others, they had seen police cars driving around in search of the smugglers. Frank and his associates including Jack and Jill have moved out of their den after seeing police secure the place, and have moved to a makeshift hideout. Frank had also met up with the cats and had congratulated them for catching so many birds but he still wanted the thirteen Spix macaws including Blu and his family captured. The group wasn't going anywhere until all thirteen blue macaws were caught. Some of the cats had left the group in search of the Spix macaws, still hoping that they were still in the city. While they were in hiding, Vera, Luke and Marvin were preparing the trucks for loading the birds and transporting them to the airport. While the smugglers were in hiding planning their next course of action, Tulio, Francisco and company, among them Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake, had managed to return to Tulio's Aviary. Since Carnival had been rescheduled to tomorrow night, the cones had been taken down for the night, so it was much easier for the traffic to enter and exit the junctions branching from the main road. Tulio had been receiving a phone call from the chief of police about the smugglers' den: they had secured it but have seen no sign of the smugglers. Tulio was getting tensed. He was seriously hoping that the thirteen Spix macaws were safe. Susan and Lucy were praying for the safe return of the pets and the other birds, while Linda and Fernando were worried. It was now around midnight, and the moon was high in the sky dotted with stars. Back at Luiz's workshop, the adult Spix macaws were still stargazing. Blu and Jewel were snuggled up to one another lovingly while Cobalt and Guanine were still sitting close together. Madison and Adenine were sitting next to them. On the ground, Zephyr, Cytosine, Thymine and Breezy were also sitting together looking at the stars. Cytosine and Breezy were sitting close together as were Thymine and Zephyr. Rafael was smiling that the eight Spix macaws were showing signs of romance. Nico and Pedro were still playing romantic music on their makeshift guitar and singing. While they were doing this, Sapphire was testing her injured wing. It was slowly getting better but it was still too painful for her to fly. Emerald came up to her.

"You know, once this wing's better, I'll be flying again," said Sapphire, "And we'll be back with our owners soon."

"But what will become of Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine, Sapphire?" asked Emerald.

"Well, they'll be given to the Blu Bird Sanctuary of course," said Sapphire, "They are rare Spix macaws, so Tulio and Francisco will be wanting them to stay behind in Brazil and live here with Blu and his family, and their new mates."

"You know, I would like to stay behind and live here too," said Emerald, "I feel like... this is my home, and that this is where I belong. Ruby and Jasper also said the same thing."

"Well, so would I," said Sapphire, "I would like to be like an aunt to Cytosine and his siblings' chicks if they pair up and successfully breed."

"But I'm not sure about Opal since her species is artificially produced," said Emerald, "In a community of natural species, I think she'd feel like a freak and a misfit."

"We'll have to see then, won't we," said Sapphire with a smile. Then she turned to Veggie, Dash and Ginger conversing.

"I think Ginger's talking about something interesting," said Sapphire and she left to join the three mammals. Emerald smiled and sighed. However, he was unaware that he and Sapphire had been watched by sinister eyes. Five cats had been walking around the streets of Rio looking for some birds to capture and have spotted Emerald and Sapphire conversing. They had also seen and recognised Dash and Veggie further away from them. Deducing that the Spix macaws might be hiding in the building, they began to sneak up on it without being seen. They were five of Brutus' minions and they had been looking for the Spix macaws, and they had a cage with them. With their eyes on Emerald and watching him carefully to make sure that he wasn't looking in their direction, the five cats crept towards Luiz's workshop. Emerald then turned round to walk back to Luiz's workshop when he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. At this he turned in the direction and thought he saw some figures moving in the shadows. Emerald became suspicious.

"Huh, something's not quite right," he mumbled to himself quietly and walked over to the spot where he saw the suspicious shadows. However the five cats had already entered into Luiz's workshop before he could get close enough. Emerald then began a wave of wariness come over him; he felt that something was wrong. Inside Luiz's workshop, the five cats began to look around. One of them named Squealer bumped his head against a wall and made a small thud. At this the ringleader, named Paws hushed, "Shhh, you fool. You'll attract attention!"

Squealer nodded and rubbed its head. Then the five cats continued into the main room. Blu and Jewel's chicks were asleep in their makeshift bed. Suddenly Carla woke up when she heard something rattle a toolbox. At this she got out of the bed and flew off from the nest to investigate. Squealer was looking through a toolbox searching for the Spix macaws when Paws grabbed his paw.

"Are you stupid, Squealer?" hissed the leader, "Macaws don't hide in toolboxes. Put those tools back!"

Squealer sighed and did so as the leader then began looking around the garage. The two cats that had a cage, named Tom and Moggy also looked around.

"This places dilapidated and ramshackle," muttered Moggy, "It's like a derelict building in here."

"Well the Spix macaws are here, Moggy," said the leader, "If that greyhound and weird cat are here with the hyacinth macaw and Buffon's macaw, then the Spix macaws are here too."

Moggy nodded. While the cats were looking around, Carla landed on the roof of a car nearby and cautiously looked down toward the floor. Her eyes widened when she spotted the presence of five cats, two holding a cage, in the garage. Then Squealer walked backward but then slipped up on a puddle of drool left there by Luiz. The cat slipped and landed on his back with a yelp. Carla jumped. The other four cats irritably looked at Squealer and told him to be quiet. Then Moggy wrinkled her face in disgust when she saw the puddle Squealer just slipped up in.

"It seems like those birds are staying with a drooly dog, Paws," she muttered. The leader, named Paws, nodded in agreement. Then his eyes moved across the room and landed on a light blue bird perched on the roof of the car looking down at them. At this, Paws smiled gleefully.

"Yep, it looks like the Spix macaws are here alright," he said as the other four cats looked up at Carla, "That one must be one of the little ones. Let's get her."

"But be careful though," said Moggy, "Their parents are aggressive. Otis got a severe beating from the mother of those chicks when he tried catching them."

Paws nodded and then he, Moggy and another cat, a brown and white one named Bouncy, jumped up onto the bonnet of the car. Carla flew back to her bed where her brother and sister were sleeping. Moggy, Paws and Bouncy followed until they found Carla, Bia and Tiago (Bia and Tiago having woken up), looking at them with fearful eyes from their bed on the shelf. Paws smiled wickedly and said, "Well, looks like your parents have left you here on your own, my little uns. Brutus will be proud to see ya. And don't even think about fightin' back an' all, you three. There's three of you puny lil' chicks and five of us experienced cats, so you have no way out!"

And with that he snickered when suddenly, "Not so fast you intruding felines!"

The three cats gasped and turned round to receive a swipe to the face from a green wing. The cats, stunned, fell off the shelf and onto the floor. The other two cats, Tom and Squealer turned round immediately when they heard their three friends hit the floor. They had been preparing the cage and had not seen Emerald sneak by them and after the other three cats. Emerald had followed the five cats as they infiltrated Luiz's garage, and now he had pounced on them to protect Blu and Jewel's chicks from being captured. Emerald then screeched at the top of his voice to get Blu and Jewel's attention. Paws shook himself and leapt back onto the car and then onto the shelf to attack Emerald and shut his beak. However, his squawks had already been heard by Blu and Jewel and the others outside. Sapphire gasped when she heard Emerald's squawk.

"EMERALD!" she cried and dashed off to the door. The birds on the roof, especially Blu and Jewel, alerted by Emerald's squawk, flapped and dashed like mad like mad back through the hole in the roof and into the room to see Emerald pinned against the wall by Paws with a paw to the neck. Blu and Jewel had got there first and when they saw their chicks being chased around the room by Moggy and Bouncy, they lost their temper. With a fierce and enraged squawk, Jewel dived down at the two cats like a rocket and tackled Moggy in the side, hard. Moggie screeched in shock and flew across the room. Then Jewel turned and clawed Bouncy, sending him and gasping his face. While she did this, Blu swiped his wings around his two daughters and son and landed on the floor, hugging them. Jewel then lunged at Paws and tackled him into releasing Emerald. Emerald gasped in relief when suddenly Paws pounced onto Jewel and the blue macaw and cat began fighting. Before Emerald could join and help Jewel, a paw grabbed his neck and stuffed him into the cage, much to his shock. It was Squealer and Tom and they had managed to apprehend Emerald before he could attack Paws. Then Tom leapt into the blurry blue, black and brown cloud to help Paws catch Jewel but was thrown back by a paw as Paws accidentally swiped him across the face in an attempt to attack Jewel. Then Jewel lunged at Paws and began ripping out beakfuls of fur from his coat. Paws screeched with agony before Jewel wing swiped him and sent him flying back. Jewel was then about to jump onto Paws when Tom, having recovered from Paws' accidental swiping of him, grabbed Jewel by the scruff of the neck and tossed her into the cage with Emerald. Moggy and Squealer then came in and tossed Blu and his chicks in there as well just as the others came running into the scene. Once the five Spix macaws were caged, Paws shook himself to recover and then called to his four comrades; "Right, let's get outa here!" before jumping to avoid Cytosine's attack. The other four cats then jumped after Paws but suddenly Ruby and Veggie jumped in and pounced onto Paws, pinning him down. Ruby had a talon to Paws' neck.

"Don't you dare leave with Blu and his family, you pests," snarled Veggie but Paws swiped him across the face and then clawed Ruby across the talon to get her off of him. Ruby screeched and held her talon in agony. Paws then got up and together with his four comrades with their cage, began to dodge Dash and Ginger's attempts to catch them. Then Guanine, Thymine and Adenine attempted to catch them but they dodged them. Then the five cats knocked down Sapphire, jumped over Cobalt, Madison, Zephyr and Breezy and then pushed Opal, Luiz, Rafael and Jasper aside as they fled. The four birds fell over into a heap as the five cats then made their getaway. Before leaving, Paws turned round and sneered, "Thanks for allowing me into your place of stay to capture some of your friends, dumb bunch!"

And with that he cackled and fled after his four comrades, the cage with Blu and his family and Emerald, who were crying for help to their friends, in tow. The rest of the group shook themselves after the chaotic attempt to catch Paws and his group. Veggie screeched in frustration.

"No, they can't do that!" he snarled, "I can't let them take Blu and his family away like that!"

Then Luiz, Nico, Pedro and Rafael walked up baffled.

"How did those cats manage to find Luiz's workshop?" asked Rafael in shock, "I thought we'd be hidden from them."

"I don't know but somehow they've managed to track us here!" cried Sapphire. Then Cobalt had an idea.

"I know," he said, "I'll follow those five cats and see where they are taking them."

"No, Cobalt, it's too dangerous!" cried Guanine, "You'd get yourself caught!"

"Guanine, there's no time!" replied Cobalt, "If those chicks of Blu and Jewel's are subjected to the abuse of Brutus, they're gonna suffer serious damage mentally, and I don't want that. You know what that feline wretch is like with birds; he's as bad as my former friend Nigel, and I am not gonna have it."

"I know, we'll all go with you," said Madison, "That way you'll not be alone."

"No, I'll do it," said Cobalt, "I don't want any of you lot getting hurt..."

"You CAN'T Cobalt," retorted Veggie, "Those cats are too sly. Even though you're good at fooling them with your acting skills like you did when we last fought a group of them, against Brutus, you'd not stand a chance."

Cobalt mumbled for a reply when Rafael continued, "Veggie's right, Coby. You can't do it alone."

"Absolutely, Coby," put in Pedro, "I ain't lettin' those pesky Garfields take advantage of my friends, and neither will Nico."

"Absolutely," said Nico in agreement. Then Dash came up with a plan and said, "I know, why the rest of you don't go after those cats while Ginger and I alert the police?"

"We're very fast runners," said Ginger, "Us greyhounds are the cheetahs of dog breeds as we're bred to be."

"That's a good idea, Ginger," said Cytosine, "You and Dash see to that while we go after those cats. Who is with us?"

Rafael, Nico, Pedro and Luiz nodded. Madison, Cobalt, Guanine, Thymine and Adenine also raised a wing up, as did Opal, Jasper, Sapphire and Veggie. However Ruby was still in agony and was clutching her scratched talon. However she raised her wing in agreement. Dash looked at her and said, "It might not be safe for you to go with Cytosine's group, Rube."

"Why not?" snapped Ruby enraged, "I'm willing to help even with an injured foot."

"With a scratched talon like that, Ruby," said Cobalt, "It's not a good idea. Those cats are very sly, and I hate to think what Brutus is like. He's sadistic and loves to pick on birds like Nigel, so I've a feeling he's very hot headed as well."

"He was especially it when he was chasing us," said Veggie. But Madison, who was very free-spirited, didn't care about this.

"Well I'm willing to give that rotten grey furred slime ball a piece of my mind," she snarled, "Even if it means facing serious injury."

"Well, we've no time to continue chatting about this," said Cytosine, "Let's go before those five cats run out of sight with Blu and his family and Emerald."

Then he turned to Zephyr and Breezy and said, "Zephyr, Breezy, are you two ready?"

But when Cytosine looked around, he saw Zephyr preparing to carry Breezy and fly away. At this, Cytosine and the others went over to him.

"Hey," said Cytosine, "What are you doing?"

Zephyr didn't answer him, however, neither did Breezy.

"I said 'what are you doing?'" said Cytosine slightly louder.

"He's asking you a question Zephyr," said Thymine. Zephyr, at this, turned and faced Cytosine with a scowl on his face.

"Returning to the jungle," he snarled, "We've had enough of this stupid lark."

"We're sick of those stupid cats always coming after us and catching us," put in Breezy. The rest of the group gasped in shock.

"But what about Jewel and Blu?" asked Cytosine, "They're going to be put with the other captured birds most likely and they end up facing taunting from Brutus."

"And secondly," put in Thymine, "Breezy is still grounded with that sprained wing. She needs medical attention back at Tulio's Aviary."

At this, Zephyr snapped and placed Breezy back on the ground and landed himself. Then he walked toward Thymine and Cytosine with an enraged look on his face.

"Look here, you pesky pets," he snarled at Cytosine and Thymine, "We have had about ENOUGH of this subject about humans and domesticated animals, especially cats... and that stupid subject on reproduction to save a species..."

"What?" gasped Thymine in shock.

"And we've had enough of stupid pets as well," added Breezy, "and we're still very shocked that Jewel had fallen in love with one of them. Her father wouldn't have been impressed to hear that his son-in-law was brought up by humans. He's dead now, unfortunately but he'd have been very angry."

(This isn't true; Eduardo and the Spix macaw tribe were actually still alive)

"And Mom and Dad would certainly not have US being paired up with pets as well," said Zephyr. At this Cytosine lost his temper.

"Oi, for YOUR information, jungle boy," he retorted, "Just because we're pets doesn't mean we're any less inferior. It's just because we were whisked out of Brazil and raised by humans in the United Kingdom. Blu was probably the same, only he was taken to the USA up north instead of across the Atlantic Ocean."

"Jewel should NEVER have fallen in love with a PET, cage boy," snapped Zephyr furiously, "Pets are an annoyance; they're... they're an irritating bunch of birds who have NO idea that they were made for the wild."

"When we heard that Blu did not fly all his life until only recently, I was very shocked," said Breezy, "I'd never known a macaw grow up and not learn to fly since he was a chick. If I was in Jewel's feathers, I'd have probably left him right away after being unchained. I'd not have chicks with him and have absolutely nothing to do with him whatsoever."

"OI!" retorted Thymine, "That would be selfish! Taking off and leaving Blu to die in the jungle, what a horrible thought!"

"Don't call me selfish, you bright blue birdbrain!" snarled Breezy, lurching forward, "I've had enough of pets and their irritation. They just drive us wild birds around the trees."

Then she eyed Cytosine and screeched, "And I certainly wouldn't want to be the mate of one."

"Breezy!" began Cobalt but Breezy swept on.

"If ever I wanted a mate," she said, "let it be a male macaw born in the wild, and grew up in the wild, not some dumb bird who grew up with humans."

"Well in that case," snapped Cytosine, "I would rather choose a female who was domesticated to be a mate, rather than a wild minx who think she's so superior."

Breezy was enraged by the comment.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?" she retorted at the top of her voice, "THE AUDACITY! I'M GONNA CLAW YA FOR THAT!"

"TAKE YA BEST SHOT, WILD-GIRL!" screeched Cytosine at the top of his voice. Breezy lunged at Cytosine but Cobalt stopped her.

"LET ME GO!" she snarled but Cobalt refused.

"We're not gonna have you and Cytosine fight," he snarled, "Now snap out of it THIS MINUTE!"

Zephyr then lunged at Cytosine and tackled him in the stomach, knocking him back.

"You call my sister a minx again and I'll rip ya feathers out, pet boy!" he snarled. Then Thymine stepped up and slapped Zephyr across the face.

"I REALLY WISH WE NEVER MET, YOU BRATTISH BIRD!" she screeched. Zephyr was stunned by this act. Then he boiled in anger. Madison, Adenine, Guanine, Sapphire, Veggie, Dash, Ginger, Rafael, Jasper, Opal, Ruby, Nico and Pedro looked on in horror. Zephyr was about to lunge at Thymine, before changing his mind and shoved Cobalt out of the way. He picked up Breezy by the wings in his talons and prepared to fly off back to the jungle.

"I really wish we never met as well, you pet brat!" he snarled at Thymine. Thymine and Cytosine just looked back at Zephyr with hostility. Then Zephyr flew off with Breezy in his talons. Rafael then jumped in and cried, "Wait, come back, Zephyr and Breezy! You belong with Thymine and Cytosine! You can't just go back to the jungle without a care about how close your species is to extinction."

Then he gave a sigh and said, "Oh, boy. Young love, honestly," he said, "Always so prone to arguments. Of all the arguments I had to deal with, this has got to be the worst."

Ruby, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Adenine, Jasper, Opal, Sapphire, Veggie, Cobalt and Madison just walked past and prepared to follow Paws and his group while Dash and Ginger prepared to run off to look for some police. Nico and Pedro fluttered down to Rafael.

"Okay, Nico and Pedro; go after Zephyr and Breezy," said Rafael softly. Nico and Pedro then flew off after the brother and sister. Rafael then turned and flew after Ruby and her group. Luiz also walked after the group, appalled at what had just happened. Ruby and her group then began to pursue Paws. Sapphire found a leaf and put it around Ruby's talon. Cytosine and Thymine were sobbing their eyes out, regretting what they had said to Zephyr and Breezy. Cytosine was especially guilty for calling Breezy a minx. Madison and Cobalt were especially disgusted with Zephyr and Breezy's attitude and were comforting Cytosine and Thymine. Opal, Veggie, Ruby, Sapphire and Jasper were also especially shocked.

"What a pair of brats," said Veggie disgusted, "How dare they treat Cytosine and Thymine like this."

"Tell me about it," said Cobalt, "I myself was a pet but I also grew up in the wild. Just because I was a pet doesn't mean I'm inferior."

"I'm actually sorry to see you that way when we met those four (Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine)," said Madison, "I now realise how equal we are. Regardless of whether we grew up with humans or in the wild, we're the same."

"You've got that right, Maddie," said Adenine.

"Absolutely," said Guanine.

"I hope Zephyr and Breezy feel sorry for what they said to Thymine and Cytosine," said Sapphire angrily. At this moment, Zephyr was flying through the sky with Breezy in his talons. Nico and Pedro were flying behind them trying to catch up to them.

"Zephyr, Breezy!" called Nico.

"Wait up," cried Pedro. Zephyr was crying and weeping, having indeed regretted what he said to Cytosine and Thymine. Breezy was also in tears. Behind them, Nico and Pedro continued flying after them when they saw Zephyr suddenly stop and descend toward the ground. At this, they looked at each other and followed him. Zephyr had seen something suspicious on the ground and had decided to investigate. He carried Breezy in his talons towards the ground. Nico and Pedro followed until Zephyr and Breezy landed behind a tree trunk and looked out. Nico and Pedro landed behind a dustbin nearby and looked out also. Zephyr and Breezy had just seen a large collection of caged birds and a large number of familiar figures, which turned out to be cats. Some of the cats were counting and checking on the caged birds while some others were bringing in more caged birds to the group. Among the group of cats was Brutus, and he was having fun picking on the hapless birds and tormenting them. Brutus and his cat gang were back together and were waiting for their owners to drive in with their trucks so that they could load the birds and drive off to the airport. While Brutus was picking on two military macaws, he heard Paws call his name. At this he turned round and saw Paws with his four comrades, Tom, Moggy, Squealer and Bouncy, walk in with six birds in their cage. Five of them were Spix macaws while one was a great green or Buffon's macaw. The birds were Blu, Jewel, their chicks and Emerald. Blu was afraid and had his wings wrapped around Carla, Bia and Tiago while Jewel was scowling with feathers raised on end. Emerald was also enraged. Brutus was impressed with the five cats and congratulated them for catching the Spix macaw family.

"But," he said, "Where are the other eight blue macaws? Frank's told us to have all thirteen caught."

"They're back at a garage with some of the other birds," replied Paws, "among them a bulldog, two greyhounds and that veggie cat. However everything was so up in the air that we had to escape but don't worry, they may be looking for these birds."

Brutus frowned and said, "Good. Now put that cage with the other birds."

Paws saluted and commanded the other four cats with him to put the cage containing Emerald, Blu and his family with the other birds, which they did. Zephyr and Breezy continued to watch from their hiding place behind the tree trunk and managed to pick out Blu and his family. Nico and Pedro also watched the cats from behind the dustbin. They were horrified when they saw the dark grey cat.

"Dat grey cat must be the leader of this gang of alley cats," whispered Pedro.

"What's Zephyr and Breezy doin'?" asked Nico as he watched the brother and sister macaws ahead of them. Back in the cat group, Brutus began to mock Blu and his family, and Emerald. Blu was quivering and hugging his terrified kids but Jewel and Emerald had their eyes fixed on the evil grey cat with hostility.

"Now, my five blue feathered goldmines," said Brutus oily to Blu, Jewel and their chicks, "all we've got to do now is wait for your eight friends to show up and attempt to rescue you. But when they turn up, they will be caught and caged like you five and then it's off to the airport."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip ya hair out," snarled Jewel under her breath. Brutus just snickered in mockery.

"I'm afraid you can't do that, blue macaw," he replied, "I'm an extremely short tempered cat and a good fighter. You mess with me, and you're dead!"

Then he eyed Blu and the three chicks and smiled wickedly.

"Oh, you sure look so frightened and helpless, don' you?" said Brutus mockingly. Then he inserted a paw through the cage bars to taunt Blu's chicks. Blu, however, wasn't going to have any of this, so he lashed out and bit Brutus' paw, making him screech and jump back. Jewel then stepped in and lashed a talon at Brutus' face, almost scratching him. However another cat leapt in and fiercely hit the cage with a paw. Jewel then glared at the grey cat with aggressive eyes.

"You dare lay a claw on MY chicks, I'll rip ya apart!" she snarled. Brutus, at this, jumped in and screeched right into Jewel's face, making her scream and bump into Emerald. Blu cried and pulled his chicks closer to himself, trembling.

"How DARE you attack me like that, you two!" snarled Brutus viciously, "If you EVER attack me again, I'll kill you, and I mean literally... kill you! IS THAT CLEAR!?"

The five Spix macaws and Emerald quivered violently and nodded. Then Brutus smiled and said, "Good. Obviously Frank does not want me to kill any of you, you need to be alive if you are to be sold."

Then he left to check on more birds. Blu was shivering violently.

"Are you al-alright J-J-J-Jewel?" he stammered. Jewel got up on her feet with Emerald's help. Scared though she was she was enraged and full of anger. She had the desire to pounce on Brutus and ripping his fur out, even if it means getting seriously injured. Jewel was a very free spirited bird and easily provoked, and she would not hesitate a fight even if the foe was stronger than her. However that often led to consequences. When she lurched herself at Nigel when he had Blu pinned down in the plane, Nigel had flung her into a plane wall, knocking a cage onto her wing and fracturing it. Since Jewel suffered such an injury at Nigel's talons, what sort of injury would Brutus inflict her if she fought him? It would probably be much worse for Brutus was an extremely violent cat when he lost his temper. While she was pondering about how she might attack Brutus, Emerald tried talking her out of it.

"Do not even think about it, Jewel," he said, "I've a feeling he's even worse than Nigel. If you suffered a broken wing at Nigel's clutches, I'd hate to think what Brutus would inflict on you."

Jewel just glared at him, before cooling off and sighed.

"That Brutus cat seems like a very cunning and sly feline," said Blu, "I don't think even I would be able to outsmart him. Don't tell me he's even smarter than Nigel, is he?"

Emerald shrugged. Just then Brutus began looking at a trio of green-winged macaws up close. He was intimidating them and taunting them.

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to kiss your beloved Brazilian home goodbye, my red rubies," sneered Brutus at the three red birds quivered for fear of being attacked, "You're gonna be sold abroad and makin' a whole lotta reals for meeeeee!" (Remember: Reals are Brazilian currency)

Zephyr and Breezy continued watching Brutus and then looked at each other. They then prepared to reveal themselves to confront the cat. Nico and Pedro continued watching the pair.

"What are those two doing?" gasped Nico in shock.

"They're gonna put themselves in danger!" said Pedro. Brutus then trotted alongside more caged birds, looking down at them with evil, brown eyes.

"Well, once we've caught the other eight Spix macaws and have sold them and the other birdies," he said, "We're gonna be rich!"

"So will our owners," said Paws. Then Squealer asked Paws a question and said, "What will we be doing with all that money?"

"Well, we're gonna perhaps go on a luxury cruise or stay in a luxury hotel, Paws," said Brutus gleefully, "So we'll have to see."

"Ooh, I'm certainly lookin' forward to goin' on holiday," said Bouncy excitedly. Brutus smiled at him when a familiar voice jumped the cats.

"How about looking forward to going to jail?" it snarled. Brutus and the cats turned to see Zephyr and Breezy walking towards them with fiercely angry faces.

"Wha- Zephyr and Breezy!" said Brutus surprised, "How nice of you to join us!"

Blu, Jewel and Emerald looked and saw Zephyr and Breezy and gasped.

"Zephyr and Breezy!?" cried Emerald.

"What are you two doing?" cried Blu, "You're gonna be caught! Fly away, you two!"

"Fly, you two," cried Jewel, "Fly!"

But Zephyr and Breezy took no notice and continued their stare at Brutus. Nico and Pedro continued to watch from behind the dustbin but Zephyr, Breezy and the cats were unaware of their presence. Zephyr looked up and saw Emerald, Blu and his family.

"Emerald, Blu, Jewel!" cried Zephyr and attempted to fly towards them but some cats blocked his way. Then Zephyr turned to Brutus shocked. Brutus just smiled evilly.

"Yep, we have successfully caught the Spix family, bluey," said Brutus gleefully. Breezy snarled.

"Don't tell me you've hurt any of their chicks, have you?" she snorted. Brutus just laughed.

"Well, I'm not sure, but those three chickies are as valuable as the ten adults, including you, your sister and your other six friends, bird," he said. The n he nodded to Paws to get an empty cage. Paws obliged and left with Tom and Squealer to fetch it. Brutus turned back to Zephyr and said, "Now, Zephyr boy. Now that you and your sister Breezy have turned up, it's time for you both to be caged. Now will you both kindly get yourselves prepared before that?"

Zephyr and Breezy just scowled.

"We will not get caged without a FIGHT, slime ball!" snarled Zephyr and he spread his wings out threateningly. Brutus frowned and retorted, "You're on, birdo!"

Then Brutus got prepared to fight Zephyr. The Russian grey cat and blue macaw then began to circle. Blu, Jewel and Emerald looked on in shock. Nico and Pedro also did the same from their hiding place.

"What's Zephyr doing?" muttered Nico. Zephyr glared fiercely at Brutus and said under his breath, "You are a filthy sewer cat, grey boy!"

"Ugh, threats," said Brutus sarcastically, "How nice. But once we've had this little combat, you're gonna be caged with your little sister without question. Then once we've done that, the rest of your friends will be showing up and we'll be catching them too. In other words, you're bait!"

At this Zephyr lunged at Brutus with a wing to punch the cat in the face but Brutus raised a paw and blocked it. Zephyr then jumped up to claw Brutus across the face but Brutus reared up and deflected that attack too. He did it another three times. Zephyr backed away wide eyed in shock.

"Oh, you're gonna have to get through my sly reflexes first, my goldmine macaw," sneered Brutus evilly. Then he grinned with his teeth showing and beckoned Zephyr to attack him. Emerald, Blu, Jewel, their chicks and the other birds watched in horror as Zephyr prepared to fight Brutus again. Nico and Pedro also had their beaks wide open in horror. Zephyr squawked and jumped at Brutus with talons outstretched and attempted to slash Brutus repeatedly but Brutus, while standing on his hind legs, deflected every attempt with his front paws. As Zephyr landed, Brutus jumped down and instantly turned and kicked the macaw in the face with his back feet like a horse. Zephyr fell backward from the blow and landed on his backside, dazed. Breezy gasped when she saw it. Zephyr then shook himself to recover as Brutus sneered, "C'mon, feathered rat!"

Zephyr got up and flew into the air. Then he swooped down at Brutus and attempted to claw him again but Brutus ducked. Zephyr turned round for another try but this time Brutus reared up and grabbed his talons with his front paws.

"That's the best you can do?" sneered Brutus and then he began spinning Zephyr around like a ball and chain used in hammer throw. Then the cat released the blue macaw and sent him flying into a tree trunk. Zephyr landed with a thud and slid to the floor. Nico and Pedro winced at the pain, as did the cats and birds. Brutus cackled evilly.

"Hah, you fight like a useless weakling, birdo!" roared Brutus as he laughed. Zephyr began to boil in fury until he finally snapped. He got up and dashed towards Brutus full speed.

"YOU FOUR-LEGGED, FURRY SEWER RAT!" he screeched at the top of his voice and tried to tackle Brutus but Brutus jumped out of the way. Zephyr then turned round and tried clawing and wing swiping Brutus but Brutus deflected every of his attempt with his front paws. Blu, Jewel, Emerald and the other birds continued looking on in shock as Zephyr began fighting a losing battle. Breezy was also in aghast. Tom and Moggy had grabbed her while Paws and Squealer had the cage prepared. Then after a few more chaotic seconds of deflecting Zephyr's talon and wing swipes, Brutus dropped down and spun like a top on the back of his neck while Zephyr hovered in the air bewildered. Brutus then got to his feet and dashed under the macaw, before finally turning and jumping at Zephyr from behind. He twisted and powerfully kicked Zephyr in the face with a bag leg outstretched and knocked the blue macaw out of the sky. Blu, Jewel, Emerald, Breezy and the other birds cried in horror when they saw this. The blue macaw then landed with a thud on the ground. Brutus landed on all his four feet. Zephyr then began to weep and sob as Brutus looked on evilly.

"Why don't you sob your eyes out in the cage, you useless feathered rat," sneered Brutus sadistically. Then Brutus commanded two cats to drag Zephyr away and cage him. An all-black cat and a black and brown cat came in and picked up Zephyr. They then tossed Zephyr in the cage. Paws and Moggy also shoved Breezy in after him and shut the cage door. After this, Paws, Moggy, Tom and Squealer carried the cage and placed it next to Blu, Jewel, Emerald and Blu and Jewel's chicks. Zephyr was weeping but Blu, Jewel and Emerald were enraged.

"You dumb birdbrain," snarled Blu angrily, "You could have been killed."

"Don't you realise how violent that cat is?" added Jewel.

"You're fortunate that he didn't decide to scratch you to death," put in Emerald. Zephyr just looked at them with green eyes wet from crying and sniffled while Breezy just gave the three birds a bewildered look. Suddenly Brutus appeared and smiled.

"Seven down, six to go," he said evilly. Breezy looked at Brutus angrily.

"They'll never turn up," she muttered, "We got into a bitter argument with two of them and they broke up with us. There's no point looking for them now."

"They broke up with you?" gasped Emerald. Brutus, however, was unconvinced.

"We won't have to look for them, feathered brat," said Brutus, "They'll be looking for YOU! In other words, you're bait!"

And with a cackle, he leapt away to help some of the other cats. Breezy looked on with sad eyes. From behind the bin, Nico and Pedro, who had been watching the whole thing, looked at each other and then rocketed away to find Ruby, Cytosine and the others with them.

**Boy, Brutus certainly is a nasty piece of work, don't you think? Stay tuned for chapter 12**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12- The rescue**

Meanwhile, Ruby and her group were walking through the dark streets of Rio, talking with Rafael and Luiz. Cytosine and Thymine were still depressed after upsetting Zephyr and Breezy and calling them names and wondered if they would ever be reconciled with them, but since they were so sick of their attitude towards them for being pets they just had enough and had snapped. However, the group was still on the pursuit of Paws and his comrades who had dragged of Blu and his family, and Emerald, but were slowed down after the bitter argument between Cytosine and Thymine, and Zephyr and Breezy. Luiz was walking behind talking with Dash and Ginger while Cobalt was talking with Rafael.

"Are you going to go to Carnival tomorrow night?" he asked.

"Nah, Coby," said Rafael not bothered, "My family's much more important than Carnival. I'd rather spend time with them than at the festivities."

"So you love them much more than Carnival?" asked Guanine.

"Exactly, Guanie," replied Rafael casually, "My mate and my 32 chicks are far more important."

"Well if you love them that much, Rafie," said Cobalt with a frown, "Why don't you discipline those feather and fur pluckers? They need to be taught an important lesson."

"Not to mention getting some babysitters for the excessive number of kids you have," said Ruby as she hopped on her good foot.

"I will when I get the chance," said Rafael a little annoyed, "But not now, okay?"

Cobalt stopped appalled.

"Not now!?" he snapped, "You give good advice especially in courtship, you're a good friend but you can't be a good father? Either you have too many chicks or you're just not bothered."

Rafael just sighed annoyed at this and kept quiet.

"Well, if I had chicks of my own," said Cobalt with a frown, "I'll be making sure that they get thoroughly disciplined because I don't want birds growing up with the habit of pulling feathers out of other birds."

"You're thinking about looking for a mate, Cobalt?" asked Guanine. Cobalt just shook his head and sighed, and continued walking on.

"It's plausible," he said, "Mind you I've been bothered by the incident with Nigel turning against me and into an exotic bird hating monster shortly after Petricious displaced us from fame, and I've just been flying around with not much of a purpose in life, to be honest. I have also found it very difficult to find and keep friends many months afterwards."

"Oh, Cobalt," said Guanine sympathetically.

"Well, you're here now," said Dash as he, Ginger and Luiz walked up, "And we're your friends."

Cobalt just looked at him sorrowfully. Then Madison spoke up.

"I hope Zephyr and Breezy are regretful for entering such an argument with Thymine and Cytosine," she said with a frown, "I think they were incredibly selfish for just taking off to the jungle without a care for Blu and Jewel and their chicks when they were carried off."

"Absolutely," said Jasper.

"I agree," said Sapphire.

"I hope Emerald's alright," said Opal, "I don't want him getting scratched like I did."

Then she looked at her flank and saw that her scratch was healing, but it was still crusty and quite red. Ginger put a paw on her shoulder.

"You'll need to have that checked, Opal," she said, "We don't want that wound getting infected."

Opal nodded to the ginger coloured greyhound in agreement.

"It must have been painful when you were scratched, harlequin," said Luiz.

"It was," replied Opal, keeping away from the bulldog's drool, "But it's not as painful as it was a couple of days ago, but it's on its way to healing now. Before it prevented me from flying due to the pain but I think I can fly now as it's getting better."

"I think my wing sprain is getting better too," said Sapphire, "I've just realised that I can fly without too much pain now."

"That's good," said Madison, "But my wing muscle sprain's still too painful to allow me to fly. I suppose Guanine, Adenine and Thymine are the same, aren't you?"

"Yes," replied Adenine. Just then the group heard familiar screeches and squawks. It were Nico and Pedro flying back like mad toward the group, and were out of breath.

"Guys," cried Nico as he struggled for breath, "Guys!"

"Oh there... you are!" gasped Pedro. Cytosine and Ruby stepped forward.

"Nico and Pedro," said Cytosine, "You look extremely scared. What is it?"

Nico and Pedro then began to talk at the same time but because they were talking so fast they just sounded like a cacophony of squawks and words. Rafael screeched out loud.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" he shouted, "Slow down, please!"

Nico and Pedro stopped yapping.

"Right, just calm down and tell us calmly, please," said Rafael firmly.

"We just saw a large group of cats with lots of caged birds," said Nico alarmingly.

"Among them Blu, Jewel, their chicks and Emerald," added Pedro. When Ruby, Cytosine and the others heard this, they jumped in horror.

"And we also saw Zephyr and Breezy confront a dark grey cat which we think is the leader of that group of cats," added Nico, "And Zephyr did a daring combat with it."

"But the grey cat had managed to kick Zephyr out of the air and had him and Breezy caged," said Pedro. Cytosine was shocked.

"Zephyr and Breezy challenged that Brutus to a fight?" he gasped.

"So that's the name of the grey cat?" asked Nico.

"Yes," said Thymine.

"Tch, those two dumb birds would have been killed!" said Veggie crossly.

"How vicious are those kitties?" asked Luiz.

"I don't know, Luiz," said Cobalt, "But I've a feeling that Russian grey leader is not a cat to be messed with."

Luiz looked at Cobalt wide eyed in fear.

"What are those cats going to do with all those captured birds now?" asked Ruby.

"They're going to transport the birds to the airport but we don't know when they'll start on that," said Nico, "Or how, but I imagine their owners will be usin' some sorta disguised truck to carry those birds to the airport like how the previous group of smugglers did through Carnival with that weird chicken float."

"And that truck could arrive at any time," said Pedro. Cytosine and the others with them were flabbergasted. Then Dash got worried.

"I think it's time Ginger and I were off running like the wind, to be honest," he said. Then Cytosine said to Nico and Pedro, "Take us there as fast as you can!"

Nico and Pedro nodded rapidly and took off. Then Ruby immediately picked up Thymine by the wings and took off. Jasper, Cytosine, Rafael and Cobalt took off followed by Opal and Sapphire for they were able to fly now, as their injuries were not as painful as they were before. Madison and Guanine then jumped onto Veggie's back and Adenine jumped onto Luiz's back. Then Veggie and Luiz dashed off after the other birds. As Cytosine's group flew or ran off after Nico and Pedro, Dash and Ginger got prepared to dash off in another direction.

"We'll meet you when we bring in the police," said Dash.

"Okay, mind how you go," Ruby called back and with that, Dash and Ginger rushed off as fast as their legs would carry them. Luiz was excited to be part of a rescue once again.

"Ha ha, he we go!" he barked. As he did that, drool flew from his mouth. One drop hit Cobalt in the face. Cobalt shook his head to shake the drool from his face.

"Tch you certainly are gross, Luiz," he muttered.

"Fly higher up," called Veggie. Cobalt did so.

"I just hope we get there before those cats' owners arrive and take those birds away to the airport," gasped Ruby as the group disappeared down a street. At this moment, Dash and Ginger were dashing through another street on the searching for some police. However they need not get very far as there were police cars and officers everywhere on the search up and down the city of Rio for the smugglers. The smugglers' den had been secured and cleared out but the thieves had fled elsewhere, so dozens of policemen and policewomen had gone out into Rio to search the city thoroughly. Many of the roads had been blocked off by a row of police cars and the traffic flow had been controlled and restricted in case the smugglers might try to drive down the main roads. However Frank and his gang were aware that the law was on their tail, and Frank was desperate to get the birds to the airport so that they could take off and leave Brazil before they were discovered and caught. It was now well past midnight, but the city was lit up by streetlights. Above the sky was cloudless with a large scatter of stars dotting the black background. While the police were out searching for the smugglers and their cats, Tulio, Linda, Francisco and the others with them including Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake, had been helping the police in their search efforts. Susan and Lucy were continuing their prayers that the birds, Veggie and Dash would turn up safe and well, and everyone was stressed and worried about the safety of the birds, but Tulio in particular. He was desperate to find the smugglers and have them caught, and was assuming that the entire population of Spix macaws (thirteen in total) was in their clutches along with dozens and dozens of other birds. He cannot let the smugglers take those last thirteen birds out of Brazil as they were the only Spix macaws known in existence, but he was especially worried about Blu, Jewel and their three chicks. The safety and wellbeing of Carla, Bia and Tiago was also a massive concern for Tulio. Those three chicks were the only Spix macaw chicks in existence at the moment, as the other eight adults Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Cobalt, Breezy, Zephyr and Madison were yet to pair up and breed, and because Carla, Bia and Tiago were still very young, they were very vulnerable and had little chance of survival in the hands of smugglers. Tulio cannot let the smugglers take Blu, Jewel and their chicks out of Brazil. Linda was also very worried. She was hoping that Blu and his family were alright. After hearing that the smugglers were after her former companion, his mate and their three chicks, she had become sick with worry. The kidnapped birds, especially the thirteen Spix macaws, just _had _to be found soon. While the police and the ornithologists were searching for the smugglers, the police car containing Susan, Francisco, Tulio and Linda was driving down one of the minor roads. The policeman driving the car was named Officer Flavio. He was flashing the red and blue lights and had the siren wailing to alert the other road users of the car's presence. The other drivers slowed down or stopped and gave way to the police car as it drove past, depending on which road they were on and which side of the road. As Officer Flavio drove the car along the road, Tulio was seriously stressed.

"I just _can't _let those smugglers escape to the airport with those thirteen Spix macaws," he muttered, "They're the last individuals of the species, and I especially don't want those three chicks taken out of Brazil as well."

"I hope my big brave boy Blu is alright," said Linda.

"I know how important those blue macaws are to you, Mr and Mrs Monteiro," said Officer Flavio, "but just let us do our job first."

"I know, Officer," mutter Tulio sharply, "but I just want to find those birds right now before it's too late."

"Three of the thirteen Spix macaws are chicks," put in Francisco, "They might not stand a chance if they are ever taken out of Brazil."

"That's why we must find those Spix macaws NOW," said Tulio angrily. He was visibly getting aerated and was startling Linda and Susan slightly. Linda had never seen her husband so angry and stressed before, but it was understandable. The thirteen Spix macaws were as invaluable as a priceless painting. If the smugglers succeeded in taking them out of Brazil, the Spix macaw conservation project would be entirely destroyed and the Spix macaw species, extinct. However the five humans in the car were in for a surprise. As they drove along a road, Susan caught sighted two dogs, one of which was familiar.

"Er, sir, STOP THE CAR!" she cried. Officer Flavio did so and swerved onto the kerb, tossing the humans over to the other side of the car. The police car spun 180 degrees before slowing to a stop. Susan, Linda, Francisco and Tulio immediately got out of the car and ran over to the two dogs, which were greyhounds: one light grey and the other ginger coloured. Susan immediately recognised the light grey one.

"DASH!" she cried and ran to the grey greyhound. Dash ran towards Susan and jumped into her arms. Susan hugged Dash and cried in relief while Dash licked her face in happiness.

"Oh, Dash, you're alright!" sobbed Susan. While she was cherishing the reconciliation with her greyhound she had missed for over two days, Tulio, Francisco and Linda looked at the other greyhound named Ginger.

"Looks like this one's a stray," said Linda as she examined the dog's neck for an ID tag, but found none. Then Susan broke the embrace with Dash and allowed him to drop down onto the floor. Then Dash and Ginger began barking wildly at Susan, Linda, Francisco and Tulio. The four humans were curious.

"What, Dash?" asked Susan, "What is it boy?"

Dash and Ginger continued barking madly.

"They must be frightened about something," said Linda as she couldn't understand what the two greyhounds were trying to tell them.

"Calm down, Linda," said Tulio, "They're trying to tell us something."

Then he asked the greyhounds, "What is it, you two? You think you know where the smugglers are?"

Dash and Ginger confirmed the answer with a bark each. Then Tulio deduced that the greyhounds must have seen the smugglers and found the caged birds, so he immediately told Susan, Francisco and Linda, "You three, back into the police car!"

The three humans obeyed and returned to the police car while Tulio told Dash and Ginger, "Take us to those caged birds as fast as you can!"

Dash and Ginger nodded and ran off while Tulio returned to the police car and got in. After he had shut the door, he told Officer Flavio, "Follow those two greyhounds, sir."

"Okay, no problem," replied Officer Flavio and immediately geared up the car. He then slammed on the accelerator and sped off after Dash and Ginger. The two greyhounds then began guiding the police car to where the caged birds might be, their part of the rescue accomplished in finding a member of the police force but most importantly, Tulio, Linda, Francisco, and one of Dash's owners Susan. Meanwhile, Frank's cats were checking their stash of caged birds and were preparing to load them onto the two trucks their owners had pinched to help sneak them to the airport, but they need not wait long. Frank and his associates Marvin, Luke, Vera, Jack and Jill, and Cayfutray had already found the cats and the caged birds, among them Blu, Jewel, their chicks, Zephyr and Breezy. The human owners parked the two trucks near the pile of caged birds and got out of the vehicles. They then prepared to load the cages containing their prized birds into the trailers. The trucks' trailers had an enormous cloak over them. The smugglers had stolen these blankets for use in concealing their load should any passers-by spot them. As soon as Frank was met by the cats, he congratulated the feline thieves, particularly Brutus, for finding so many birds, especially seven of the thirteen Spix macaws. However, he was not satisfied with the efforts.

"Well, my cats, you did well to catch so many birds," said Frank, "But you've only caught half of the Spix macaws. I want the other six."

The cats smiled wickedly, knowing that the other six blue macaws will turn up to rescue the birds. Then Frank ordered his accomplices to start loading the cages into the trailers. Marvin, Luke and Vera nodded and set to work. Jack and Jill, however, reluctantly joined them. Cayfutray also reluctantly joined the other cats in helping their owners load the caged birds onto the trucks. Marvin picked up the cage containing Emerald, Blu, Jewel and their chicks. He looked at the Spix macaw family closely and smiled with glee.

"These five birds will be worth millions of reals," he said. Suddenly Jewel squawked and lashed a talon at Marvin's face, almost scratching him. Marvin immediately moved the cage at arm's length in shock.

"Phew, quite a feisty bird in there," he said and placed the cage into the trailer of the first truck. Vera then picked up the cage containing Zephyr and Breezy and placed them into the same trailer next to Blu, Emerald and Jewel's cage while the cats brought in more cages. However the smuggler group was unaware that they were being watched. Ruby, Jasper, Sapphire, Opal, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Cobalt, Madison, Veggie, Luiz, Rafael, Nico and Pedro had arrived at the spot where the cats were hiding with their stash of birds and were hiding behind a tree trunk and dustbin, as Zephyr and Breezy had done before Zephyr fought Brutus only to suffer a humiliating defeat. They were in shock at the number of birds caught.

"Those cats really have worked hard," said Cobalt quietly.

"Did anyone see Blu and his family?" asked Ruby.

"I just saw them as that man placed their cage into that first truck," said Cytosine, "I think I also saw the woman place Zephyr and Breezy in there just after the man left to pick up another cage."

Sapphire frowned and said, "Well if Blu and Jewel are in that cage, so is Emerald."

Luiz was in serious shock.

"Good grief," he said, "Dis is even worse a crime than the chicken float the previous thieves used to sneak through Carnival."

Adenine caught sight of Brutus and said, "There's Brutus, that money-obsessed psychopath and the leader of the cats."

Guanine then turned to Nico and Pedro and said, "So you saw Zephyr fight that cat only to lose?"

"Yes, Guanie," replied Pedro, "and it was somewhat violent as well. We also saw that grey cat pick on Blu and Jewel before he caged him and Breezy."

"And it sounds like he's very violent as well," said Nico, "I hate to even think what he's like if he's provoked."

"He was aggressively on our tail when we fled the smugglers the other night," said Madison. Then Veggie recognised the calico cat among the group of cats.

"That's the calico that attacked me when I tried rescuing the birds back at the smugglers' den before I and Dash were caught and caged," he said. "I think he or she goes by the name of Cayfutray."

The group continued watching the cats pass the cages to their human companions. Some of the cats banged on the cages and told some birds to shut up when the birds groaned.

"They're very keen on keeping their prisoners quiet, aren't they?" said Rafael.

"We're going to have to figure out a way to rescue them without being detected," said Ruby. Then she turned to the others with her and said, "Do any of you have any questions as to how?"

"We could try and sneak by while those cats and their owners load those birds," said Veggie.

"How about we act our way in?" suggested Cobalt.

"I think a distraction's a better idea and more appropriate," said Luiz.

"Can we jump out and pounce on those felines?" suggested Madison, "I'm really determined to give those alley rats a piece of my mind."

Adenine shook his head in shock at this suggestion and frowned at Madison.

"That is extremely unwise, Madison," he said firmly, "Those cats are sly for one and you got injured in an attempt to escaper back at the smugglers' den for another. You could do yourself even more damage if you deliberately attack them."

Madison made a furious facial expression and boiled with anger. She clearly wanted revenge on Brutus for injuring her back at the smugglers' den.

"Well, I would like to rip the fur out of that grey brute for knocking me and Breezy against the wall and spraining our wings," hissed Madison, "give that cat a taste of his own medicine."

Like Jewel and Zephyr, Madison was very free spirited and was sometimes prone to a vengeful attitude. If anyone has hurt her or one of her friends, she often would like to give the attacker a piece of her mind. However, this could only get her into trouble as Thymine was about to tell her.

"Revenge is never a good idea," snapped Thymine irritably at Madison's remark, "It could get you into trouble for one and Brutus is a savage beast for another. If he's managed to defeat Zephyr in a fight, he could do the same to you, now snap out of it and get that idea right out of your head."

Madison reluctantly did so and calmed down.

"And furthermore," put in Adenine, "Brutus could even kill you."

"He's seriously violent, Madison," put in Veggie, "Remember what happened last time when he chased us through the slums of Rio. And furthermore, if that cockatoo Nigel managed to break Jewel's wing, what would Brutus be like if you attempt to claw him?"

"That's a good point, Adenine, Veggie and Thymine," said Sapphire, "Leaping upon those felines would be a bad idea, especially due to what happened last time. We don't want any more injuries."

"Absolutely not," muttered Opal as she looked at the crusty scratch on her right flank.

"Well, I think a distraction is ideal, like Luiz said," said Jasper, "It would slow those criminals down for one and give us a chance to sneak by those cats for another, but we must watch out for their owners."

Then the group heard Frank mutter, "Come on, you lot, a little faster. Those cops could arrive any moment."

"It's time we sneaked aboard, I think," said Thymine. Then Ruby made a plan and said, "Right, I think I've just formulated a plan. Listen closely..."

Then the other fourteen animals inched closer to Ruby as she continued, "Right, here's what we'll do; Luiz, Veggie, Madison and Sapphire will create a distraction to divert some of the cats while Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Jasper, Cobalt and Opal will try and rescue some of the birds from the pile of cages. Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine and I will sneak into that truck and set Blu, Jewel their chicks, Zephyr, Breezy and Emerald free. Is everyone clear on their tasks?"

Some of the others nodded but Rafael had a question.

"Excuse me, Rube but..." he muttered, "But Nico, Pedro and I have no knowledge of cages as we've never really been owned by any humans."

"But Rafael," said Veggie, "You've told us that you've lived in this city for much of your life, so you should have some knowledge of cages."

"I may be a city bird, fruit cat, but I'm not a domesticated toucan," said Rafael sadly, "I'm a wild bird, and so are Nico and Pedro."

Nico and Pedro nodded in agreement.

"Typical," muttered Cobalt. Then he said, "Look, I'll show you how to open..."

"Oh, hang on," interrupted Pedro, "I just remembered. When we were on board that plane, Blu taught us how to open cages, so I think we actually have a bit of knowledge already."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," said Rafael, "Thanks for reminding me, Pedro."

"Well at least you have some experience in opening cages," said Cobalt, "But just to remind you, the lock that holds the cage door shut is a slide bolt. The slide bolt goes like this; there's the long bit that slides into the cylindrical socket and then there's the short bit sticking out from the long bit. All you do is take that bit and pull it outward to slide the lock out of its socket."

"Thanks for reminding us, Cobalt," said Rafael.

"Right," said Ruby, determined to implement the plan and rescue the birds, "Let's move."

Then she nodded to Luiz, Veggie, Madison and Sapphire. The cat, bulldog, hyacinth macaw and beautiful Spix macaw nodded and prepared to make their way to a clearing when Ruby said, "Oh, and Luiz, no funny stuff, okay?"

"Okay, red meatball," replied Luiz with a frown. Ruby became irritated but then Luiz laughed.

"Ha, ha, ha, I'm just kiddin' my red macaw friend. I'm not gonna eat you," he said.

"If you did, I'd rush to her defence," said Veggie sternly. Luiz just smiled at the cat. Then he, Sapphire, Madison and Veggie left to carry out their task. Rafael came up to the irate Ruby.

"Don't take Luiz's jokes to heart, Rube," he said, "He can't help it sometimes but he can get a bit carried away."

"I hope he doesn't unintentionally say anything offensive," muttered Ruby. Then the rest of the group got prepared to make their move as soon as Veggie and his group had the cats distracted. Back with the cats, Brutus was smiling wickedly as more caged birds were loaded into the truck.

"Finally," he said under his breath, "As soon as those birdies are sold, we will be up to our eyes in lotsa metallic discs and paper. Hm-hm-hm-hm-hmmm."

Then Brutus lashed at a cage of toucans carried by Paws and Tom and startled them. The toucans cried and flinched to the pleasure of the evil cat. Paws and Tom giggled and carried the cage up to Jack to take. Brutus smiled and said, "I just lurve scaring birdies before they get carried out of this country."

Close by, Cayfutray was looking down to the ground with ears drooped. She had just helped some of the cats carry a cage full of parakeets to Vera, who had taken it from them and placed it into the trailer. Jack and Jill were also helping with loading the cages into the trucks. They were feeling incredibly guilty and upset, and felt sorry for the birds, especially the toucans after they had been scared by Brutus. Suddenly, Luke shouted, "Frank, guys, look! It's one of the missing Spix macaws and a hyacinth macaw!"

At this, Frank, Marvin, Vera, Jack, Jill and the cats stopped working and turned round to see the two macaws, which were Sapphire and Madison, standing there just looking at them. In the background, Veggie and Luiz got prepared to cause trouble as soon as the smugglers were close enough. They were not going to attack by clawing and biting but cause trouble by getting some of the crooks into chasing them as part of the distraction. The cats and their owners just stood there looking at Sapphire and Madison as Frank grew impatient.

"What are you standin' there for," shouted Frank, "Get 'em!"

Vera, Marvin, Luke and the cats did so and dashed to grab Madison and Sapphire. Jack and Jill were about to rush off but Frank grabbed their arms.

"What do you both think you're doing?" asked Frank, "Can you help me and the rest of the cats load the caged birds?"

Jack and Jill reluctantly did as they were told and continued taking cages of birds from the remaining cats and placing them into the trailers under the cloaks. Vera, Luke, Marvin and part of the cat group (some of which and cages) leapt at Madison and Sapphire but the two macaws took off before they could be grabbed, sending the three humans collapsing onto the floor. Madison and Sapphire hovered in the air and then dodged the first cats that jumped at them. Then some more cats jumped at the two macaws but Madison and Sapphire dodged them as well. Marvin, Luke and Vera then scrambled to their feet and began waving their hands at the hyacinth and Spix macaws but they kept dodging their attempts to catch them. Then before they knew it, Veggie and Luiz were upon them! The cat and Bulldog jumped out and screeched and barked right behind the three humans and made them jump. Then Luiz and Veggie began chasing the startled cats around their owners' feet.

"Ha, ha, ha, dis is fun!" cried Luiz excitedly. As he chased the cats here and there, flecks of his saliva flew from his mouth, hitting some of the cats in the face. The cats muttered as they were hit by the gross drool from the bulldog.

"Oh, this dog's even worse than the greyhound, honestly," muttered one of them.

"Tell us about it," muttered another. Vera, Marvin and Luke then began cursing and swearing as Madison and Sapphire began to fly around their heads and hitting them with their wings, while at the same time avoiding stepping onto the cats below. Frank turned to look at the group and snarled impatiently, "What's up with you lot over there? Stop being stupid and catch those two birds this minute!"

Jack and Jill were about to laugh but Frank firmly tapped them on the shoulder to stop them. The remaining cats still dealing with the pile of caged birds watched the chaos in shock. With the eyes of the other thieves on the chaos caused by Sapphire, Madison, Veggie and Luiz, Nico, Pedro, Rafael, Jasper, Cobalt and Opal then made their move. They quickly sneaked up to the pile of caged birds, making sure that none of the cats were looking and hid behind the pile. While they did this, Ruby, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine stealthily sneaked past the cats and Frank and then around the front of the truck. They then climbed into the truck and sneaked under the cloak. At this moment, some of the cats placed the cages they had down and ran over to help their friends catch Madison, Sapphire, Luiz and Veggie. In the pile of caged birds, Nico and Pedro undid a lock on one of the cages and opened the door to set some green-winged macaws free.

"Go," commanded Nico. The green-winged macaws did so and flew off. Then the samba duo turned to the next cage. Rafael opened another cage and set some house finches, among them Tiny, free. Tiny was glad to be released.

"Thank you, mister toucan," she squeaked.

"Shh, go!" said Rafael firmly. Tiny nodded and flew off as Cobalt and Opal set free some cardinals. Jasper also set a family of four macaws of his species, a couple of blue-and-gold macaws with two chicks, free, together with a golden parakeet. The male blue-and-gold smiled at Jasper and said, "You're fond of cages?"

"Just go with your family, now!" commanded Jasper. The male did so and took after his mate and two chicks. Then Cobalt and Opal turned to a cage containing a scarlet macaw when suddenly, a paw appeared and barred their way. The Spix and harlequin macaws turned and found themselves staring into the face of a calico cat, Cayfutray. Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Jasper also found themselves face-to-face with a mean and sadistic face of an evil grey cat. They gasped...

Under the cloak in the trailer, Blu, Jewel their chicks and Emerald (in one cage) and Breezy and Zephyr (in another), were looking down to the ground in despair. Blu, Emerald and Jewel's cage had been padlocked so that they could not escape, instead of having a normal slip bolt. The cats somehow knew that Blu was familiar with cages. However they didn't know that he could pick padlocks. Blu had his wing around Jewel who had her wings around her three frightened chicks. Zephyr and Breezy were also weeping and looking down to the ground when suddenly Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine and Guanine appeared, followed by Ruby. Zephyr and Breezy were surprised to see the five.

"Cytosine, Thymine...?" gasped Zephyr in shock.

"How-?" asked Breezy as Cytosine undid the lock.

"No time to explain," replied Cytosine, "We're getting you outa here."

Blu, Jewel, their chicks and Emerald were also surprised to see Ruby and their four Spix macaw friends as Ruby, Adenine and Guanine examined the padlock.

"How did you manage to sneak by those sly cats and their owners?" asked Emerald.

"Shh," replied Ruby, "We're getting you out of this dilapidated mess."

"Ruby," cried Bia excitedly.

"Oh, at last," muttered Jewel with relief, "I can't wait to escape this piece of junk."

"Don't worry, you will," replied Adenine. Then he looked at the padlock.

"Oh, no!" muttered Ruby, "How are we going to undo THIS?_"_

"Have you seen padlocks before?" asked Blu.

"Yes but not on a cage," replied Guanine.

"We've unlocked padlocks before but with a key on talon," said Ruby, "but in this case, we're stuck."

Cytosine then looked around. He and Thymine had just set Zephyr and Breezy free.

"There has to be a key somewhere," muttered Cytosine.

"Well if there is, it'll be in the driver's seat," said Zephyr. Suddenly an evil voice said, "I'm afraid you're not goin' anywhere, my feathered gold nuggets."

Cytosine, Ruby and the others with them gasped but before they could recognise the voice, several cat paws appeared in a jiffy and shoved Zephyr and Breezy back into the cage Cytosine and Thymine had just freed them from, shoved Cytosine and Thymine into the cage with them and then Ruby into another open, empty cage. Adenine and Guanine then found themselves shoved into the cage with Ruby by another cat paw. At this they looked up and found a familiar grey face sneering at them as the grey cat, which was Brutus, slammed the cage door and padlocked it shut. Behind him, another cat padlocked the cage containing Zephyr, Breezy and now Thymine and Cytosine. Ruby was shocked.

"How did you manage to catch us?" she shouted. Brutus evilly smiled.

"We caught your friends releasin' some of our gems, red gemstone," he crooned oily and mockingly, "So we've caged THEM instead. Also, we have your pesky cat and bulldog friend captured."

At this Ruby, Adenine and Guanine looked in the direction Brutus was looking in smugly and saw Opal, Cobalt, Rafael, Nico and Pedro in one cage (which was also padlocked), Jasper and Madison in another cage, Sapphire stuffed in a third, and Veggie and Luiz in a fourth, get loaded onto the truck beside them. Nico was lying limply on the floor, unconscious.

"We got caught," muttered Cobalt with a gutted look on his face.

"By that grey cat," put in Rafael. Adenine saw Nico lying on the floor with Pedro by his side, crying. He turned angrily at Brutus and shouted, "What have you DONE TO THAT CANARY!?"

"Me?" replied Brutus sarcastically, "I... I raised a paw and swatted him hard to knock him out. He attacked me with his bottle cap hat and resisted, so I wasn't gonna have any of it."

"You did WHAT?" snarled Blu when he heard Brutus say this.

"I hope you haven't killed him," put in Breezy furiously. Brutus turned to her and smiled wickedly.

"No, I just knocked him out. He's still alive but unconscious. He'll recover later," he said casually. Breezy, Zephyr, Cytosine and Thymine, at this, looked at Nico as Pedro and Rafael cradled the canary, who was still breathing, in their wings. Pedro had Nico's bottle cap hat. Brutus then smiled and went over to Veggie and Luiz.

"As for these two," he said, "Frank is going to deal with them when we get to the airport."

When Luiz heard this, he gasped fretfully, "Do what, cat?"

Brutus wrinkled his face in disgust as Luiz's saliva flecked onto his paws.

"Guh-ross," growled the cat, "I've never known a dog drool so much. I'll be glad when we've got rid of you, bulldog. We don't need your dribbles smothering our truck."

As he said this, Luiz was deeply hurt and began to cry. Veggie gasped when he heard Brutus say this.

"How dare you say that to my FRIEND, you mouse eating fiend!" snarled Rafael angrily. Brutus just snickered and left to check on the caged Spix macaws one more time. He was satisfied that all thirteen Spix macaws had been caught and caged at last. As he was admiring the catch, the humans and the other cats outside continued loading the rest of the cages. Frank lifted the cloak to examine the thirteen Spix macaws. Brutus smiled at him.

"Well, looks like we've got all thirteen Spix macaws," said Frank, finally satisfied. "Well done my cats, especially you, Brutus. Right, let's get the rest of these caged birds loaded and let's get outa here."

Then Frank said, "Brutus, I need your help."

Brutus nodded and then turned to look at Ruby, Blu and their friends.

"Nigel was right to call love a powerful, stupid thing," he said mockingly, "It blinds characters to the danger and makes them an easy target for catchin'. Too bad your plan has crashed and burned as a result, red macaw!"

And with that, he gave a meowy laugh and jumped down from the trailer. Frank then dropped the cloak back down, enveloping the birds, Veggie and Luiz in darkness. Zephyr gave a sigh and said, "Well, I guess this is the end."

Breezy then turned to Cytosine and Thymine and said, "Look, you two, we owe you an apology about what happened earlier."

"You do?" inquired Cytosine.

"Yes," said Zephyr sorrowfully, "You both were right back then. We were very selfish for just taking off back to the jungle. We now fully realise that no matter what background a macaw has grown up in, whether as a pet or in the wild, we're still the same."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," said Madison gladly.

"No, it's not just your fault, Zephyr," said Thymine, "It was partly our fault too. And I'm sorry for hitting you across the face. I just got sick of your attitude."

"And I'm sorry, Breezy, for calling you a minx as well," said Cytosine to Breezy, "It was stupid of me."

"Well, I'm sorry for trampling you underfoot as well," said Breezy, "We were the ones that got you and your friends in this mess."

Cytosine just looked at Breezy and sighed.

"Well, what next?" he said in despair. The others just looked at him. Cytosine just sighed and sat down in one corner of the cage and out his face into his wings. A few minutes later, Frank and his group and cats had finished up loading the last of the birds and were ready to flee to the airport. As soon as the smugglers were ready, they got into the trucks' driving parts and started up the vehicles. Then they drove off to the airport.

**Oh, no, looks like the smugglers have successfully caught the thirteen Spix macaws and a lot of other birds. Also Luiz has been caught as well! Will they manage to escape, and will Tulio, Linda and the rest of the human gang, and the police find the smugglers before they make it to the airport? Find out in the next chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13- the climax and final arrest of the smugglers**

It was the early hours of the morning but it was still dark. The smugglers drove their two trucks down the road that led to the airport. They passed by several quads of police but the police were unaware that the trucks were loaded with caged birds. To further convince the police that they were just ordinary load trucks with nothing suspicious, the cats were hidden from sight. Many were hidden under the cloak with the caged birds while some were hiding in the driver's part. The policemen and women looked at the trucks and were taken in by the disguise, much to Frank's gladness. Frank and Marvin drove the trucks down the road and turned into other roads to avoid roadblocks set up by a row of police cars. Frank knew where the airport was and knew a lot of the roads at the back of his hand. While the smugglers were driving, Dash and Ginger led the police car containing Tulio, Linda, Francisco and Susan to the spot where they believed the smugglers were last for they had sniffed their way here. Four other police cars had joined Tulio's group when Susan explained that Dash apparently knew where the smugglers were and where he had last seen them. In the police cars Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were among some other people, while Fernando had followed Dash and Ginger on his motorbike. For a boy his age, it was surprising that he knew how to drive a motorcycle, but he had used it before to get Linda and Tulio to Marcel's group's hideout quicker to reunite Linda with Blu. Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were particularly glad to see Dash during the journey. As soon as Dash and Ginger had arrived at the spot they believe the smugglers stood last with Fernando and the five police cars behind them, they began to sniff the area as Tulio got out of Officer Flavio's car. To his dismay, there were no caged birds anywhere in the area. Tulio up to Dash and Ginger and asked the greyhounds, "Are you two sure the smugglers were here last?"

Dash and Ginger just looked at the head ornithologist with dismay eyes. Then Fernando called, "Dad!"

At this, Tulio turned round and went up to Fernando as he picked up some cat hairs and few blue feathers.

"Looks like these hairs are from the cats while these," said Fernando as he held the blue feathers to Tulio, "must be from one or two of the Spix macaws."

Tulio then put one of the feathers into his mouth and tasted it. After this he said, "It is, from Zephyr to be exact, so the smugglers were definitely here. If Zephyr was here, then the other twelve Spix macaws, including Blu, Jewel, Carla, Bia and Tiago, would have been here too."

Dash looked at Tulio in amazement when he saw how he identified the feather just by tasting it.

"How did he manage to identify that feather with his mouth?" he asked. Ginger just shrugged.

"And not only that," said Francisco as he walked in, "I think there were other birds here as well."

Then Susan picked up a navy blue feather. It could only be from Sapphire for her species had dark blue feathers, darker than a Spix macaw's. Also Sapphire was the only hyacinth macaw among the birds.

"Looks like Sapphire was here too," said Susan. "So it seems that she was caught by the smugglers too."

"That would mean Ruby, Jasper, Emerald, Opal and our four Spix macaws Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine and Guanine would have been here too," put in Lucy, "And possibly Veggie too."

"Well if that is the case," said Linda, "Then the smugglers will have hid here and left somewhere else to avoid the police."

Then Tulio had an awful feeling as she said this and said to the group and the greyhounds, "I think that 'somewhere else' could be the airport. We HAVE to get to the airport, now."

Dash gasped when he heard Tulio say this.

"That could mean Veggie and possibly Luiz will have been taken by those smugglers too, if they've been caught," he said. "Remember they went with Ruby and the others to rescue the birds."

"Then let's go," said Ginger. Tulio then ordered everyone to return to the police cars. He also ordered the greyhounds to get into one of the police cars as well, which they did while he himself returned to Officer Flavio's car. Tulio then rang up the leader of the ornithologists armed with net guns (which they use to normally catch birds) to drive to the airport and get prepared to shoot nets at any cats they see. The leader obeyed and commanded his comrades to follow him to the airport. Then Tulio commanded Officer Flavio, "To the airport, sir."

"Okay, no problem," said the policeman as he geared up the car. He then drove off with Fernando on the motorbike and the other four police cars following. Dash and Ginger were in the car with Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake. They were seriously worried about their friends, especially Blu and his family.

"I hope we get there before those smugglers take off," groaned Dash. Ginger nodded. Then the five police cars and Fernando drove down a road. Officer Flavio had also called the other police to intercept the smugglers at the airport. The smugglers now had the police squad truly hot on their tail. Meanwhile, Frank and his team of smugglers had arrived at the airport. As soon as Frank and Marvin had parked the trucks, Frank immediately jumped out of the driver's seat and commanded his associates, "C'mon, you lot. Get those birds out of these trucks and place them into a pile while I get a plane out from the hanger nearby."

Marvin, Vera, Luke and the cats nodded and set to work. Jack, Jill and Cayfutray, however were reluctant. Marvin lifted up the covering to expose the caged birds and the cats that had been hiding during the journey and told the cats what Frank had said. Vera lifted the cloak off the second truck and did the same. After this, the humans and cats began to lift the cages and place them onto the floor. Jack and Jill reluctantly helped, while Cayfutray was planning on turning against Brutus. Luke picked up the cage containing Breezy, Zephyr, Cytosine and Thymine and set them onto the floor. While the group was doing this, their leader Frank drove a plane out from the hanger. It was a Short CS.7 Skyvan, the same sort of plane Marcel's group used in their failed attempt to escape Rio with their stash of caged birds. As Frank carefully but quickly drove the Skyvan towards the trucks and by them so that the cargo bay's opening was facing the trucks, the rest of the group continued unloading the caged birds. Cayfutray was not doing much, for she was overcome with guilt and sadness to see the helpless birds about to get smuggled out of Brazil. Jack and Jill were also having second thoughts. They looked at Frank as he opened up the cargo bay door of the plane, got out of the plane's cockpit and said to his comrades, "Right, let's get these birds loaded before the police get here."

"Right you are," replied Marvin, Vera and Luke at the same time and commanded the cats to start loading the plane. Cayfutray then frowned.

"This isn't right," she said to herself quietly, "I'm not gonna go on like this."

And with that, she ran around the back of one of the trucks out of the sight of the other cats and her owners. She was going to set some of the birds free against Brutus' wishes, even if it means putting her life on the line as Brutus was an extremely violent cat when he's angered. Among the caged birds lifted out of the trailer, Rafael was despondent.

"Sorry, Eva, kids," he moaned mournfully, "I'm not gonna be home tonight."

Pedro was cradling Nico in his wings.

"Oh, Nico, me friend, I'm so sorry," said the cardinal sadly. Then Nico opened his eyes.

"Ooooh," he said, "What happened?"

"Nico," cried Pedro with joyous relief, "You're okay! I thought I lost you! You know what I'd be like without you."

Nico then jumped up and rubbed his head.

"Were we supposed to be freeing the birds?" he asked.

"We were but Brutus pounced on us," said Opal, "You attacked him with your bottle cap hat but he swatted you with a paw and knocked you out."

While she was talking, Cobalt was struggling with the padlock, determined to escape the cage and help rescue the other birds.

"Well, at least you've recovered, Nico," muttered Cobalt, "but I cannot get this padlock unlocked. Slide bolts are easy enough to do but these, they're more challenging."

Then Marvin came in and placed the cage containing Emerald, Blu, Jewel and their chicks beside them, before leaving to get another cage. Blu looked at Cobalt struggling with the padlock.

"Having trouble, Cobalt?" he asked. Cobalt swatted the lock in frustration and sat down, having given up,

"I cannot unlock the padlock, Blu," he muttered in reply, "I've just no experience in those kinds of locks. There's no way were gonna escape."

Blu, however, was unmoved by this despairing remark.

"All's not lost, Cobalt," Blu said hopefully, "I've dealt with this kind of locks before, and those cats foolishly failed to realise that I could pick padlocks."

Cobalt looked up and said, "Could you?"

While this conversation was going on, Vera picked up the cage containing Veggie and Luiz.

"What do you want us to do with this cat and bulldog, Frank?" asked Vera. Frank came out of the plane and looked at them. Luiz was afraid but Veggie was angry.

"Load them into the plane as well," said Frank, "We'll have the cats throw them out into the ocean when we leave this country. We haven't got time to deal with them now."

"Very well," said Vera and with that, she Veggie and Luiz onto the plane. Luiz began to panic.

"They're gonna kill us!" cried the bulldog. Veggie, however, wasn't worried.

"No we're not," he said, "We're going to get out of here as soon as this woman places us onto the plane."

Luiz only moaned. Then Vera put the cage with the two mammals down next to some birds and left. Some cats walked in to keep an eye on them. Veggie then ushered Luiz into coming closer to him so that he could discuss his plan with him. Making sure that the cat guards were not looking or listening, Veggie began to whisper in Luiz's ear, "I'm able to pick padlocks and I know how to open cages..."

"Oh, goodie," said Luiz excitedly when suddenly, "Hey, stop talking, you two!" and "Yeah, shut your mouths or Brutus will shut them for you!"

Veggie and Luiz jumped when two of the cats looked at them with irritated faces. Then the two cats looked back in the opposite direction to watch the birds. Veggie, however, wasn't intimidated by the cats' threats, so he clicked a claw and began to quietly work on the padlock locking his and Luiz's cage...

Back outside, Jack and Jill were looking at the birds yet to be loaded into the plane and saw the Spix macaws and their friends. Jack went over to Guanine, Adenine and Ruby and knelt down while Jill went to Sapphire, who was clearly stuffed into the small cage like a doll in a tiny box.

"I'm going to set you birds free," said Jack to Ruby, Guanine and Adenine and was about to touch the padlock when Brutus jumped in and hissed loudly, hackles rose, jumping the boy. Brutus then jumped onto the top of Sapphire's cage and slashed his claws at Jill, hissing, almost scratching Jill's face. Jill screeched and jumped back. Then Frank came up to them and grabbed both of their arms.

"What were you two doing?" he snarled.

"We- er.. We were only checking on the birds," stammered Jack timidly.

"Well, make sure you don't let any of them loose," snorted Fran as he dragged them away. "Those thirteen Spix macaws are priceless, you know."

Jill looked back at the birds as they looked at her with desperate looks on their faces as Brutus jumped down from Sapphire's cage to help the cats. Having had enough of Frank's cruelty and treatment of the birds, Jill became angry and stomped onto Frank's foot as hard as she could. Frank yelped in pain and grabbed his foot, releasing Jack and Jill. The twins then dashed as fast as they could away from the smugglers with Brutus looking on in anger and shock. Frank uttered a filthy word and watched the twins flee. Luke looked on in wonder with a cage in his hands.

"Forget those (bleep)s," snarled Frank, "Just continue with the task!"

Luke nodded and went onto the plane. However, the thieves were in for a shock. While both the four humans and all the cats including Brutus had their backs turned, Blu had unlocked the padlock locking the door of the cage containing him, his family and Emerald. Jewel was proud of her mate.

"I'm so glad to have a nerd bird by my side," she said, "I wonder where I would have been the last time I was stuffed into one of these awful cages when we were chained together if you hadn't been so familiar with them."

Blu then quietly opened the door and sneaked out, keeping a close eye on the cats and making sure that they weren't looking. He then quickly walked over to Sapphire's cage and opened the door, and helped the massive hyacinth macaw, who was almost twice his size, out of the cramped cage. Sapphire was relieved to be out of the tiny thing.

"Oh, thanks, Blu," she said, "I don't think I could have stood another second in there longer."

"Shh, just set the other birds free," replied Blu as he began working on the padlock locking Ruby, Guanine and Adenine in their cage. Sapphire nodded and did so. In the truck's trailer, Cayfutray had set free some more of the birds and they were ready to combat the cats. She had sneaked into the driver's seat and found the padlock key as she ran around the truck away from the other cats, and was now unlocking some of the padlocked cages with it. In the plane, Veggie and Luiz had managed to sneak out of their cage and were hiding behind some birds, waiting for the right moment to strike. The humans and cats, however, were too busy to yet notice the birds escaping. Frank, Vera, Luke and Marvin continued examining the birds and loading more of them into the plane. They were clearly under stress. They wanted to fly out of Brazil as soon as possible for they knew that the police could arrive any moment. As they continued loading the caged birds onto the Skyvan, Blu's group had all managed to escape their cages and were discussing their next move: to knock out the humans and set the other birds free. However they need not do that when all of a sudden, a massive flock of birds erupted from one of the trucks and flew straight for the humans. Then before Frank sand the other three could realise that some of their stolen stash had escaped, they were struck on the head by the birds and knocked out! The cats screeched in shock when they saw their owners fall like toy soldiers.

"What the-?" gasped Brutus and then he saw some more birds fly out of the Skyvan. Brutus and some of the other cats with him looked into the cargo bay and saw some knocked out cats and birds out of their cages. Veggie and Luiz were the ones realising the birds and were doing so as fast as they could. Because Veggie knew about cages and slide bolts thanks to his background of living with domestic birds, he could do it very quickly while Luiz was slower due to his unfamiliarity with them. Brutus was about to pounce onto Veggie to scratch him when suddenly, "Not so fast, you vicious grey slime ball!"

At this, Brutus and the other cats turned round and saw Blu, Ruby, Jewel, their chicks and the other birds with them glaring viciously at them. Brutus was astonished.

"How did you lot ESCAPE THOSE CAGES?" he screeched. Blu just lifted a talon and causally blew on it.

"It seems that you menacing moggies failed to realise that I can pick padlocks, bozo," replied Blu snidely. Brutus snorted angrily as more and more freed birds joined the crowd. Then he raised his hackles and bared his teeth as he boiled with fury.

"You lot will return to your cages this MINUTE," he hissed, "Or I'll lose my temper, and you won't like me when I'm angry."

The other cats also entered into fighting poses.

"Absolutely," added Tom as he raised his front paws into a battle pose. Jewel then boldly came forward and snarled, "Not a chance, rat face!"

"We're not going to be smuggled out of this country against our will!" put in Zephyr.

"Certainly not in the name of money!" added Ruby.

"Yeah, Garfields!" snarled Pedro. Nico then glared at Brutus and said, "And for knockin' me out, I'm gonna give ya a piece of my mind, Bruto! No, what am I sayin'? WE will!"

Brutus was shocked at the remarks and the resistance of the birds. Then the other cats came forward.

"Well, you lot," snarled Otis, "If you lot wanna face our fury, then so be it! But let me explain why we don't want any resistance from you feathered gemstones. There our police after us and they could arrive any moment, so we don't have time for any more delays! Now do us a favour and RETURN TO YOUR CAGES!"

"NEVER!" screeched Jewel at the top of her voice and with that, she lashed at Otis and clawed him across the face. Otis was thrown back and onto his side, screeching in pain and holding his face with his paws. Jewel then smirked at the cat.

"Glad to see YOU in pain, alley rat," she giggled and spat onto the floor at Otis. Brutus was appalled at Jewel's attitude as some cats went over to Otis. Ruby rolled her eyes at Jewel's attitude in annoyance. Laughing at someone in pain was not in her nature but if she or her group is threatened, she will defend them even if it means getting attacked. Then Brutus turned to look at the birds infuriated. Cobalt then boldly stepped forward and said, "We all absolutely agree with Jewel, cats. We are NOT going to be re-caged."

"Absolutely," said all the other birds. Brutus then snarled and hissed.

"Well, if that's what you want," he roared, "then you shall face the consequences!"

"Bring it on, Brutus!" snarled Blu and Cytosine together. The other birds said, "Yeah!" altogether. Then the cats and birds began a fierce faceoff like before when they were confronted by Otis and his group at the club. The atmosphere intensified for several seconds until Pedro shouted at the top of his voice, "Birds versus cats round TWOOOOOO!"

"ATTAAAACK!" screeched Brutus and with that, both bird and cat groups leaped at each other and began fighting. Some birds began throttling some cats while some cats began throttling or chasing birds. During the chaos, Veggie and Luiz continued rescuing more birds on the plane while Cayfutray continued freeing the birds still on the trucks. As soon as she had done the first truck, she dropped down from its trailer and immediately ran over to the second to rescue the birds still on that one's trailer. The freed birds immediately flew into the battle and joined in. Four cats including Squealer were chasing Blu and Jewel's chicks Carla, Bia and Tiago but the three sly chicks flew in a tight serpentine pattern to confuse their chasers. They then flew into the plane's cargo bay and hid behind some stacks of empty cages. The four cats stopped and looked around for the three baby Spix macaws. While they were looking in one direction, Tiago smiled mischievously, flew up to behind Squealer and kicked the cat in the rear, knocking Squealer onto his chin with his back end in the air. The other three cats looked at him in wonder. Then Tiago dashed and disappeared behind the cages before the three cats could see him. Squealer recovered and looked behind but found no-one there. Then Bia and Carla appeared and tackled two of the cats in the side. The four cats screeched and chased the sisters back into the stack of cages. Then the baby macaws began to play catch me if you can as the cats peered into some gaps but they looked out of some other and grinned at the cats looking into those gaps. But when the cats removed their heads from the gaps, the chicks disappeared to look into those gaps they believe the chicks to be in only to find them not there. This continued for another minute and at one point, Tiago kicked one of the cats in the rear again. Next the cats began to play 'whack a mole' with the three chicks. They swiped their paws at Carla, Bia and Tiago but they disappeared into the gaps. After a few seconds of this, Carla, Bia and Tiago appeared and flew around Squealer and the other three cats super fast, confusing the cats and tangling them with each other. The four cats then gave up as they collapsed into a heap. Carla, Bia and Tiago then appeared and laughed before flying away. At this instant, Ruby was fleeing from more cats, who were chasing her into the plane's cargo bay and then back out again. She then met Cobalt who was coming in the opposite direction with more cats after him. The two stopped when they were directly in front of each other and then flew up, sending their chasers colliding headfirst into each other. Close by, Opal was surrounded by some cats as some macaws, toucans and small house finches were fighting more cats in the background. Opal looked around frantically and then whacked two of the cats on opposite sides of her with her wings like a double uppercut. Madison and Rafael then flew in after being chased by more cats and found Opal surrounded. At this, the toucan and Spix macaw ran over some more cats to her and landed in the middle of the feline surround with Opal. Then they prepared to combat the cats. Opal then picked up Rafael from behind while Rafael prepared himself to be used as a weapon to knock down the cats with his big beak. Opal then spun spin round with Rafael in her wings. Rafael's beak knocked down the row of cats. Madison somersaulted onto the cats' heads and began to run over them like stepping stones just before Rafael's beak hit them across the face. The cats were knocked down like a set of dominoes as Opal released Rafael and Madison jumped down from the cats. Close by Jasper, Emerald, Nico and Pedro were being chased by more cats. Nico smiled and took off his bottle cap hat. He then twirled round and threw his hat at the chasers. The hat bounced off of one of the cat's nose, sending the cat into a tumble and causing a chain reaction as the other cats got caught in the first one's tumbling. Nico then flew up and grabbed his hat, snickering, "Ha, ha, ha! Take that, you funky kitties!"

"Nice move, Nico," said Jasper with a smile. Pedro then flew in and did a chest bump with his best friend. Emerald smiled at this. Then the four birds went on to battle more cats. Around the plane, some cats were jumping up and down on the backs of some birds and throttling them while other birds were head butting, wing-chopping and stomping on more cats. Some even rode on the backs of the cats like rodeos on a horse. Sapphire was using her enormous wings to knock down some cats and wing-chop them. As one of the cats fell over, Zephyr flew in and hip dropped another cat on the back to flatten it. Then Breezy came in and attacked more cats, despite the pain from her still-sprained wing muscle. Nearby, Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine and Thymine were causing more cats confusion by running around them and making them dizzy, before Blu dived in and smashed into the lot after the four siblings dispersed. The cats were knocked down like bowling pins. In the plane's cargo bay, Veggie and Luiz had freed the last of the birds.

"Good job, Luiz," said Veggie and he hi-fived the bulldog. Suddenly two cats jumped in and pounced onto Veggie and began to throttle him. It were Tom and Paws.

"You're going DOWN, you meddling cat!" snarled Paws and he got prepared to scratch Veggie when suddenly, Luiz tackled him and Jewel appeared and bit Tom on the tail, sending him rocketing into the air. Luiz then had Paws pinned against the wall of the plane.

"Don't ya dare attack me friends like that, kitty!" laughed Luiz. Paws quivered and wrinkled his face as Luiz's drool dripped close to his face. Outside, Cobalt had just lured some cats into colliding with more cats chasing Opal and Rafael by getting them to chase him. The cats smashed into each other and collapsed like ninepins. Cobalt laughed as he saw this as Opal and Rafael flew off to combat more cats. Cytosine ran in gasping for breath and met Breezy.

"Looks like we're doing well, eh, Breeze?" said Cytosine excitedly.

"Yeah, teamwork," replied Breezy. Blu then came in and laughed.

"You and your brother and sisters are good in your coordination, I can tell you, Cytosine," he said, "You did well to confuse those cats before I smashed through them."

"So are your chicks, Blu," said Thymine nearby as she walked in with Zephyr. She had just seen Carla, Bia and Tiago confuse more cats by flying past their heads and through their legs to tangle them and collapse them to the floor before Jewel tackled those still standing and knocked them down. Then Guanine, Cobalt, Madison and Adenine walked up, smiling and nodding in agreement. Suddenly Zephyr, Cobalt and Madison gasped while Breezy, Thymine, Adenine and Blu cried in terror and jumped back as a vicious grey cat suddenly appeared and pounced onto Cytosine! Cytosine looked and then found himself on his back on the floor with the cat on top of him. It was Brutus, and he was extremely angry. His fur was puffed out like a puffer fish's spines, and his brown eyes were full of wrath.

"WELL IT LOOKS LIKE YOU WON'T BE DOIN' WELL AGAINST ME!" he screeched at the top of his voice, "I WARNED YOU BEFORE THIS FIGHT! IF YOU MESS WITH ME, YOU'RE DEAD!"

He then pressed Cytosine hard against the floor by the throat with a paw to the point of cutting off his breathing. Zephyr seethed with anger.

"Get off of Cytosine this MINUTE you GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SEWER BEAST!" he screeched loudly and before anyone could stop him, he jumped onto Brutus' back and tried to claw him with his talons but Brutus whipped round and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

"YOU GET OFF OF ME YOURSELF YOU FILTHY BLUE-FEATHERED SLIME BALL!" shouted Brutus and with that, he tossed the macaw into the air and jumped off of Cytosine. Brutus then twirled in midair and kicked Zephyr as hard as he could the moment he came back down with a back leg. The force of the kick sent Zephyr flying hard into the side of the Skyvan. He then fell onto the floor.

"ZEPHYR!" cried Thymine and Breezy together.

"Ow!" cried Zephyr and then shooting pain shot through his right wing. He lifted it but the agony flared up even more, making him scream.

"MY WING!" he cried. Blu then had an awful thought.

"I think that cat's fractured Zephyr's wing," he said. Brutus then laughed sadistically at Zephyr.

"Oops-a-daisy," he said sarcastically, "Looks like I've injured another macaw in my rage."

And with that he laughed out loud and said, "And it serves you right an' all. Oh, I love it when birds are in pain!"

Brutus then continued laughing before turning his attention back to Cytosine. Breezy lost her temper and was about to pounce onto Brutus as Cobalt, Madison, Thymine and Guanine ran over to Zephyr.

"I'm gonna RIP YOUR HAIR OUT!" she screeched but Blu and Adenine grabbed her.

"Don't!" cried Adenine, "He's a savage cat! You'll get injured too!"

"BUT HE HURT MY BROTHER!" snapped Breezy. She then saw Brutus prepare his claws while he had Cytosine pinned down on the floor. Cytosine gasped in fear and looked up at Brutus as the cat burned with wrath.

"Now I'm gonna kill you, blue macaw!" hissed Brutus but before he could fatally slash Cytosine, he felt shooting pain surge through his tail. Brutus screeched and jumped off of Cytosine and grabbed his tail. Madison had bitten his tail hard and was prepared to fight him. Madison sneered at Brutus and said, "I hope it hurts, feline pig! I've been lookin' forward to doing that since you've injured me and Breezy!"

Brutus lost his temper and screeched loudly.

"HOW DARE YOU BITE ME TAIL LIKE THAT YOU STUPID..." screeched Brutus and with that, he leapt at Madison with one of his paws ready to slash her. Madison, stunned at the cat's savage temper, stood transfixed in fear. Adenine saw what Brutus was about to do to her.

"Madison!" he cried, "MOVE!"

"Adenine, NO!" cried Thymine but Adenine flung himself at Madison and rammed into her side, knocking her over just as Brutus' claws swiped down, raking Adenine's side. Adenine screeched in agony as he collapsed onto the floor with Brutus landing behind him. Adenine grasped where he had been scratched with Brutus looking on.

"ADENINE!" cried Blu and he and the others ran over to their wounded friend. Adenine had been slashed down the side and back by Brutus, and was bleeding. The scratch was much worse than Opal's.

"Everyone, get away from this cat!" cried Cobalt and with that, he picked up Guanine and flew off. Then Blu picked up Adenine in his talons and followed Cobalt while Thymine, Cytosine and Breezy helped Madison to her feet. Madison then ran off really quickly while Thymine, Cytosine and Breezy dashed over to Zephyr to help him. Suddenly Brutus screeched loudly, lashed out and grabbed Breezy's tail and prepared to claw her. He was now so angry that he had lost all thought, and was now acting like a feral beast, intent on killing the Spix macaws whether Frank liked it or not.

"BREEZY!" cried Cytosine as Breezy screamed, flapped and struggled as the savage grey cat had her tail and was about to brutally claw her. Cytosine stared at her for a second and then leapt in to save her. As he did so, an image flashed in his mind. In the image, he was a chick who had just been caged with his brother and two sisters. Cytosine saw a white cockatoo in the sky throw a blue macaw into a tree trunk. The macaw smashed into the trunk and fell onto the forest floor lifeless. Then Cytosine snapped out of the memory and rammed hard into Brutus' side, sending himself and the cat into a tumble and releasing Breezy, who ran off while Thymine, with Blu's help, lifted Zephyr to safety, careful not to damage his broken wing. As soon as Brutus and Cytosine stopped tumbling, Brutus screeched and pounced onto Cytosine, pinned him down and was about to claw him again when, "Don't you DARE kill that blue macaw, Brutus, or else!"

At this, Brutus snapped out of his enraged frenzy and turned in the direction of the voice to see Cayfutray standing there, glaring angrily at him.

"Or else what, Cayfutray?" retorted Brutus.

"Or else, I'll be bringing the police here," snapped Cayfutray. Brutus snarled and left Cytosine to walk up to the calico.

"Don't you even think about it, Cayfutray," said the fierce grey cat. Cayfutray, however, stood her ground.

"I'm THROUGH with this business of smuggling helpless birds, I'm leaving you and smuggling, Brutus, for EVER!" said Cayfutray.

"Oh yeah, and what will you be doing?" retorted Brutus.

"Finding a loving family and possibly a mate," replied Cayfutray causally and with that she dashed off as fast as a greyhound. Brutus was enraged.

"Not a wise idea!" he snarled and he looked back at Cytosine and snarled, "I'll be back to deal with you in a minute, blue rat!"

Cytosine only looked on in horror just as Ruby, Emerald and Jewel turned up. Then Brutus dashed off after Cayfutray. He let loose an ear-piercing screech, frightening Cayfutray. Brutus then began to gain on her and was prepared to claw Cayfutray to death the moment he caught her. However, he wasn't going to get far as the police and ornithologist squad had arrived in the airport. The ornithologists armed with net guns riding on motorbikes were the first to enter the area. Cayfutray saw the motorbikes and immediately dashed toward them like a rocket with Brutus in hot pursuit. As the ornithologists drove into the airport, the leader at the front saw two cats running toward them. At this, he gasped to another ornithologist on the same motorbike as he, "Abigail, fire!"

The ornithologist, named Abigail, nodded and aimed her net gun at the cat (Cayfutray) at the front. Then she shot a net at Cayfutray. When Cayfutray saw the net coming her way, she immediately swerved sharply to the left, leaving Brutus, who didn't have time to react, in the path of the net. The grey cat screeched in anger and humiliation as the net struck him and entangled around his legs. As Brutus fiercely struggled in the net, the squad of ornithologists then parked their bikes around him. Abigail then jumped off the leader's bike and ran towards him. As she picked up Brutus, the savage cat, who was so full of anger, lashed his claws at the woman and slashed her arms. Abigail cried in agony and screamed, "Get a cage, QUICK!"

Another ornithologist did so and rushed forward with a cage he had packed onto his motorcycle. Abigail immediately tossed Brutus into the cage and slammed it shut. Then she turned to a first aider who began to treat her wounds as some police cars turned up and stopped. Tulio got out of Officer Flavio's car and ran over to the captured cat. As he looked at Brutus, Brutus hissed loudly and swiped his claws at Tulio, making him flinch.

"Looks like this one's going to a cat's home to be trained out of that vicious behaviour," he said, "We don't want this moggy running around causing trouble."

Then some of the ornithologists saw some animals fighting in the distance.

"I think those must be the birds and the smugglers' cats!" cried one of them. At this, Tulio dived back into Flavio's police car and shouted, "Take us there right away!"

"You go, we'll see to this cat!" said the ornithologist net gun leader. Tulio nodded and with that, he and the other net gun-armed ornithologists and police sped off towards the plane in the distance. Cayfutray saw the squad and ran alongside them. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were getting worried as they were taken to the spot where the fighting cats and birds were. Linda, Dash and Ginger were also worried. Back with the cats and birds, the brawl was still continuing, but it wasn't going to continue for much longer as the police was finally on its way. After Sapphire had sent a few cats flying with a powerful tackle to save two golden parakeets from being clawed, she looked up and saw motorbikes and black and white cars with red and blue lights flashing on top melt into view.

"Guys," she cried at the top of her voice, "It's the police! They're here!"

Ruby looked up and also saw the incoming police cars and bikes. She called for the other birds still able to fly to get prepared to scatter as soon as the police was close. The birds did so, grabbed their injured friends and flew off, leaving the bewildered cats to be caught by the group of ornithologists. As soon as the ornithologists screeched to a stop, they began to fire nets at the cats. The cats screeched and tried to retreat but did not move fast enough. Few at a time, they were netted by the ornithologists who were well trained with their net guns. Although they normally used the guns to net birds to rescue them, they were applying these to catch the cats for they were the only effective weapon for catching such mobile and fast creatures. As the cats were being caught, Veggie and Luiz retreated around the back of the truck to prevent being caught while the police parked up their cars. As soon as they had screeched to a halt, a few dozen police officers, including Flavio, jumped out of their cars and ran over to the still-parked and partially loaded plane to arrest the four humans Frank, Marvin, Vera and Luke, who were just coming around. They had been unaware of what had happened the past while. While they did that, more ornithologists including Tulio and Francisco, and Linda, Fernando, Blake, Drake, Jake and Susan and Lucy, and Dash and Ginger, also jumped out of the police cars to look for any injured birds while the net gun armed ornithologists began to go round and cage the cats. The birds that had flown out of the way then flew over to the humans, carrying their injured friends. All the birds were covered in grazes, bruises and other minor injuries but some were seriously injured, such as Zephyr and Adenine. Zephyr had a broken wing while Adenine had a serious scratch. It took a while for the ornithologists and the police to catch all the cats but by them time they had netted all the animals; they packed them away into cages to be taken to a cat's home. It was sunrise by the time everything settled down at the airport and the sun was just appearing from below the horizon. Officer Flavio had arrested Frank, Marvin, Vera and Luke and was now putting them, handcuffed, into his car. Frank was muttering and uttering filthy words.

"Nice try, buddies," said Officer Flavio as he ordered the four smugglers into his car, "But I'm afraid you've failed. In the car please."

Frank angrily and reluctantly obeyed. As soon as he had sat in with his three accomplices, Officer Flavio shut the door. From a distance, Jack and Jill watched the four smugglers get arrested while some ornithologists were taking caged cats away while the rest were treating the birds and checking them for injuries. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake were hugging Veggie, Ruby, Emerald, Opal, Jasper and Sapphire with Dash and celebrating their reunion while Luiz and Ginger looked on, smiling. Lucy and Susan had also given thanks that their pets and the other birds had been found safe and sound. Linda was also hugging Blu while Jewel and their chicks were hovering around her.

"Oh, thank goodness, you're alright," sobbed Linda as Blu nuzzled against her cheek. "I thought you'd be gone forever again."

Then Tulio walked in and said, "Where are the other eight Spix macaws?"

As he said this, Cayfutray walked in when Jewel threatened to pounce on and claw her but Sapphire flew in and stopped her.

"Don't attack her, Jewel," she said, "She's helped many of the birds escape."

"What?" gasped Jewel in shock. Then Cayfutray ran in and looked around for the injured birds.

"Where are the two injured Spix macaws?" she asked. Veggie, Dash, Ginger, Luiz, Ruby, Opal, Jasper and Emerald also flew in, worried when some squawks were heard. At this, they, Tulio and Linda looked around and found eight birds coming towards them on the ground. Francisco also walked in after helping some ornithologists carefully pack some injured birds into some cages to take back to Tulio's Aviary for treatment. He, together with Susan, Lucy, Blake, Jake and Drake, ran over to the eight Spix macaws as they approached Tulio. Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine, Madison, Cobalt and Breezy then walked in, with Guanine carrying Zephyr and Cobalt carrying Adenine. Guanine then set Zephyr carefully down on the tarmac, careful not to hurt his broken right wing any further while Cobalt, who had a leaf over Adenine's serious scratch, placed Adenine down on his left side, for he had been scratched by Brutus down the right flank and lower back. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake knelt down before them and gasped when they saw Zephyr and Adenine's injuries. Cayfutray, Veggie, Ginger and Dash were also horrified at what had happened to the two birds. Veggie looked at Adenine's scratch.

"That needs treatment right away," he whispered. Linda, Blu and Jewel, who had her wing around Carla, Bia and Tiago, also looked at Zephyr's broken wing and Adenine's scratch and gasped. Zephyr winced in pain and looked at Cytosine and Thymine as Tulio and Fernando knelt down with hands outstretched to pick them up. Adenine had no problem for he was familiar with humans but Zephyr, still distrustful of humans as Jewel had been, was nervous and wary. Tulio picked up Adenine and carried him away as Francisco said, "Here, let me pick Zephyr up."

Zephyr backed away but Cytosine, Thymine, Guanine and Cobalt, together with Blu and Jewel, Ruby, Sapphire, Opal, Emerald, Jasper, Veggie, Dash and Ginger, encouraged Zephyr to let Francisco pick him up. Zephyr reluctantly did so and Francisco raised him off the ground. Francisco then looked at Susan, who was worried for Adenine.

"Don't worry, Susan," said Francisco, "Adenine's in Tulio's hands. He's an expert veterinarian as well as an ornithologist."

Linda then looked at the other six Spix macaws and Opal's side and said, "These six and your harlequin macaw could do with a check up as well. I can see Opal's got that crusty scratch down her flank too. Also, I'd suggest you get Ruby, Jasper, Emerald and Sapphire back to Tulio's Aviary too."

Blake, Drake, Susan, Lucy and Jake nodded and picked up the eleven birds. Madison and Breezy, however, were also reluctant but ultimately relented as Linda picked them up. Then the humans took the birds away to a car to return to Tulio's Aviary. Dash, Veggie, Ginger and Cayfutray went with them. As they left, Rafael, Nico and Pedro looked on with Luiz by their side. They had been packed into cages too for check up, for they were also covered in minor scratches and grazes.

"Well, I hope those guys will be alright," said Rafael.

"Guess so," said Nico. "An' it looks like it's all over for the smugglers and their pesky kitties."

"Yep," said Pedro, "and when dese bird lovin' humans have done treatin' us, it's back to the jungle for us."

"And as for me," said Luiz with a drooly smile, "I'll bhe goin' back to my workshop. Glad to help pout with more action."

Then he just remembered something and said, "Hey, Rafie, did you know it's Carnival tomorrow?"

"Oh, yes, so it is!" said Rafael, "Thanks for reminding me."

"Are you goin' to take Eva and your kiddies to it?" asked Nico.

"Nah," said Rafael, "I'm not really bothered with it, to be honest. My family's more important. And besides, I've over thirty kids to deal with including the three chicks that are yet to be born."

Then the canary, toucan and cardinal were carried away while Luiz was carried off to a vet's for check up.

**Right, that's it for chapter 13. Hopefully chapter 14 will be the last of this fanfiction.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14- ending and epilogue**

Soon, it was morning and the sun has fully risen from below the horizon. All the birds were back at Tulio's Aviary, being treated but Zephyr and Adenine had been entered into surgery for their injuries were the worst. Tulio was in charge of the group operating on and resetting the damaged bones of Zephyr's wing while another group of surgeons worked on stitching up Adenine's scratch for it had been so badly inflicted by Brutus. It was likely that Adenine will have a bit of a scar after surgery. While both macaws were in the operating theatre hidden by the two teams of surgeons, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine were stood outside watching through the window, nervous and worried. In the main treatment room, Madison and Breezy were having their flight muscles checked out. They had slowly learned to trust humans and learn that not all of them were bad as they once thought they were. Also, their sprains were slowly getting better and were not as painful. However they were still grounded as it was still too painful to fly. Cobalt was also being assessed for serious injuries but the vets found none. Blu, Jewel and their chicks had also been examined but turned out alright as well. Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine had already been assessed but will still be kept in the Aviary for a while until they were well enough to be released and that Thymine and Guanine's wing muscles were also fully healed of their sprains. With the thirteen Spix macaws, other birds were also being treated. Ruby was having her foot bandaged while Opal was having her scratch, which had fully clotted over, examined. Jasper, Sapphire and Emerald were also being assessed for injuries. Like Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine, they were concerned for Zephyr and Adenine as well. Breezy was especially frantic and was speaking with Jewel, since she had had her wing broken as well.

"Were you unable to fly when that Nigel vulture broke your wing?" she asked.

"I wasn't able to for several weeks," said Jewel, "I was kept in the 'cage' as Blu called it the whole time and checked on by these humans, but Blu kept me company."

"I wonder if Zephyr will have to be kept in for a while too," said Breezy.

"He will have to, Breezy," said Jasper about a metre away, "That Brutus brute has done serious damage to him, so don't be surprised if Tulio decides to keep him in here a while."

Breezy sighed and turned back to Jewel.

"You know something," she said, "I think I owe Cytosine one. I couldn't believe he risked his life to save me from that savage grey cat."

"Same with Adenine," said Blu, "He nearly got himself killed to save Madison from being scratched."

Cobalt then flew over and said, "I had to protect Guanine from several cat attacks especially when they attempted to pounce on her from behind. And speaking of Madison, she actually told me that she wants to thank Adenine for saving her life."

"You know, I feel the same way about Cytosine," said Breezy, "I underestimated him you know and misjudged him... badly."

Then she looked at Cytosine and said, "In fact, I would like to thank him now."

And with that she walked to the end of the table and called, "Cytosine! Hey, Cytosine!"

At this, Cytosine turned round and flew over to Breezy.

"Yes, Breezy," he said, "What do you want?"

"Well, er... um... stuttered Breezy, "I just want to say... thank you for... saving my life from Brutus. If it wasn't for you... he could have brutally clawed me."

"Well, I couldn't let him kill you, Breezy," said Cytosine, "I didn't want you to meet a gruesome end. And furthermore, how would Zephyr feel if you were killed at the paws of that vicious cat?"

Breezy sniffled a bit.

"You told me that for most of your like, you and Zephyr had lived alone, separated from your parents and flock," continued Cytosine, "and Zephyr must have worked very hard just to care for you all those years... to feed you, protect you and look out for you. It was because... Brutus had incapacitated Zephyr by breaking his wing and was unable to protect you. I didn't want him to lose his sister..."

Then Breezy felt touched by Cytosine's explanation and before Cytosine could carry on, she lurched forward, wrapped her wings around him and kissed him passionately to his shock. Blu and Jewel clapped when they saw this. Francisco also saw Breezy and Cytosine as they broke the kiss and was over the moon.

"Tulio's gonna be very happy when he sees this," he said happily. "Looks like we have a breeding pair in the making,"

Cytosine and Breezy were slightly embarrassed by this remark, and laughed weakly.

"Well, only time will tell as far as he's concerned," said Breezy to Cytosine with a smile, "But anyway, if you don't mind, I'd like to return to my spot and get prepared to see my brother when those surgeons have done their job in repairing his wing. And I'm sure you're itching to see Adenine too."

"We are, actually," said Cytosine, "But I'm expecting Adenine to be out of the theatre first because his wound's not as bad as your brother's. Zephyr may take a little longer but don't worry about him, he's in good hands."

Breezy smiled at him and then walked off back to Blu and Jewel. Then Ruby and Jasper came in with smiles on their beaks as Cytosine turned to look at them.

"You know, I haven't seen Dash, Ginger, Veggie and Cayfutray since this morning, Ruby and Jasper," he said, "Where have they gone?"

"Well, Dash has invited Ginger out for a walk while Cayfutray is out with Veggie," replied Ruby, "And Susan is on about adopting Ginger and Cayfutray so that they can be mates for Dash and Veggie respectively."

"They're going to breed them?" asked Cytosine surprised.

"Blake I think it was, did say he would like to find a female each for Dash and Veggie so that they could have puppies and kittens a while ago, Cytosine," said Jasper, "Just like how you four were to be paired up with Cobalt, Madison, Zephyr and Breezy to increase the Spix population."

"Oh, don't mention reproduction again, please," muttered Cytosine, expecting Breezy to storm in and attack him. However Breezy didn't to his surprise and just smiled in the distance. Then Cytosine saw Emerald and Sapphire talking with another Buffon's and hyacinth macaw.

"Oh, Emerald and Sapphire are bonding with two of the birds rescued from the wild, Cytosine," said Ruby, "The Buffon's macaw Emerald is talking with is a female named Orquidea and the hyacinth macaw is a male named Marinho."

"Oh, so they're planning on finding mates too?" asked Cytosine.

"So are we," said Jasper with a smile, "I'm bonding with a female blue-and-gold named Jacinthe and Ruby is bonding with a male green-winged named Bruno."

"Bruno seems to know you four from a young age and what happened to you, though he is aware that you four couldn't remember who you were," said Ruby, "and he has a father called Ade. Bruno and Jacinthe were among the birds caught by the cats and that participated in the fight against them with us."

"As for Orquidea and Marinho," said Jasper, "They've been rescued from the wild, injured."

"Oh, so you're seeking out mates too?" asked Cytosine. Ruby and Jasper nodded.

"But I'm not sure about Opal," said Ruby, "She seems unappealing to other birds because of her hybrid breed should I call it, and birds like her are not found in nature."

"I think at the moment, she doesn't mind being a spinster," said Cytosine. While he was talking, Cobalt had flown over to Guanine and was talking with her while Madison was looking earnestly through the window at Adenine. Cytosine was surprised and said, "Well looks like Cobalt and Guanine are bonding and Madison wants to be with Adenine."

Ruby smiled and said, "Well, I'm not surprised. Adenine risked his life to save Madison just as you had done with Breezy so I think she wants to thank him as well."

Just then a door opened and a bird doctor came out with a maya blue bird in his arms. Recognising it as Adenine, Cytosine, Ruby and Jasper were about to fly over to him but were stopped by another ornithologist. Cobalt, Guanine and Madison also wanted to get a glimpse of Adenine but Francisco stopped them. Then Francisco walked up to the doctor and said, "How's Adenine, doc?"

"He's fine," replied the doctor, "Just a severe scratch that required stitching. But Zephyr, the other one, will be a little longer because his injury's worse than this one's."

"Oh, good," replied Francisco, "Well, let's get Adenine into the care unit so that he could recover and then we'll check on Tulio's progress with Zephyr."

The doc nodded and left with Adenine to a recovery unit. Madison was eager to see Adenine but Francisco stopped her while Cobalt and Guanine looked on.

"I'm afraid you're gonna have to wait, Maddie," said Francisco as he calmed the blue macaw down. Madison just looked at him and sighed as Cytosine, Ruby and Jasper flew in and landed beside her just as Francisco left. Thymine, however, remained perched at the window into the operating theatre watching the team of surgeons led by Tulio continue their operation on Zephyr's wing. Cobalt looked up at Thymine and said, "Looks like she's eager to see Zephyr too."

"Well, I'm not surprised," said Jasper, "She's concerned for him."

Madison looked sadly at Adenine as he was carried away into the recovery room by the doctor. Ruby put a wing on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry about Adenine, Madison. He's just still under general anaesthetic. He'll come round in a while."

"Well, I want to thank him for saving me from Brutus, Rube," replied Madison.

"You will when the drugs have worn off," said Jasper, "He's still out cold from the anaesthetic at the moment."

"I tell you something, that Brutus didn't half give him serious scratch," said Madison, "I thought he was going to fatally wound him. That was some gash he had down his side and back."

"He also lost quite a bit of blood as well," said Cobalt, "so he had to have a blood transfusion from one of his siblings. Guanine here was willing to donate some of her blood to him."

Guanine said, "Well it was because Cytosine, Thymine and I were his closest relatives. Cytosine and Thymine were too squeamish so I offered."

"I don't like needles," said Cytosine with a shiver. Then Cobalt turned to Guanine.

"Hey, Guanine," said Cobalt, "I would like to ask you something."

"Yes, like what?" inquired Guanine and Cobalt led her away so that they were alone and away from the other birds. Madison looked at him and smiled.

"He'll be asking her to be his mate I presume," she said.

"Why didn't you choose Cobalt or Zephyr?" asked Cytosine.

"They weren't very appealing," replied Madison, "And secondly, none of us were ready to have chicks yet, so we refused to breed."

"But our species is almost extinct, Madison," replied Cytosine, "Don't you realise?"

"Animals should not be forced into breeding, Cytosine," replied Madison firmly, "They only breed when the time's right. Think of sheep for example. Their mating season's not all year round."

Suddenly they heard Guanine shriek, "Yes!" behind them, so they turned round and saw Guanine hug and kiss Cobalt. Madison smiled and said, "Well, speaking of finding a mate, I would like to be Adenine's mate..."

Just then Tulio came walking out with Zephyr in his arms. He and his team had just finished readjusting the bones of his wing and have set the wing into a cast so that the bones were held still during the healing process and so that they didn't reconnect out of place, which would render Zephyr unable to fly for the rest of his life. Tulio then took Zephyr to the recovery room. Thymine watched him disappear through the doorway.

"Looks like it will be a while before the anaesthetic drugs wear off too," said Thymine.

"Yes, and then when we're all healed up, it's back to the jungle for us," said Madison proudly. "I'm looking forward to it."

"So are we," said Ruby. Then Cytosine looked down and murmured, "Does that mean we have to say goodbye to our owners?"

Ruby put a wing around his shoulder and said, "I'm afraid so, Cytosine. You see, you're an ultra rare Spix macaw, so it's important that you stay here."

"You have us now," said Madison assuredly, "So you won't be alone."

"Blu and his family are looking forward to returning to the jungle as well," said Ruby. Then she looked in the direction where Bruno was and said, "Well I'm going to spend more time with Bruno, so I'll see you lot later."

And with that she flew off back to where Bruno was. Jasper did the same and said, "And I'm off to spend more time with Jacinthe," and also flew off. Madison, Cytosine and Thymine smiled as they saw Jasper fly back to where Jacinthe was.

"I guess they will be joining us in the wild too," Cytosine said to Madison. Soon it was time for the birds to be released into the wild. As soon as all the birds were nurtured back to health, the ornithologists set them free back into the jungle of the Blu Bird Sanctuary a few at a time. Three months after the second group of smugglers was arrested and imprisoned, Zephyr and Adenine had fully recovered from their injuries. Zephyr's wing was now well enough to be released from its cast and Zephyr was able to fly again. Adenine's stitches had also faded and he was left with a slight scar. Furthermore, Thymine, Guanine, Breezy and Madison had fully recovered from their sprains and were also able to fly again. Also Breezy and Cytosine, Zephyr and Thymine, Cobalt and Guanine, and Madison and Adenine spent more time together. Ruby and her newfound boyfriend Bruno, Sapphire and Marinho, Emerald and Orquidea, Jasper and Jacinthe, and Veggie and Cayfutray, and Dash and Ginger also spent more time together and as they did, romance blossomed between the ten couples and they eventually became mates. Opal, however, remained as a spinster. Furthermore, Jack and Jill both found jobs on the Blu Bird Sanctuary like Fernando had done, and were now bird surveyors and data analysts. Francisco had trained them in the field. All was slowly returning to normal. Then when it was time for the Spix macaws and their friends to be released into the jungle, Francisco, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake, Jake, Jack and Jill, together with Tulio, Linda and Fernando, took the birds to the top of the Vista Chinesa and prepared to release them as Tulio, Linda and Fernando had done when they released both Blu and Jewel into the wild. Veggie, Cayfutray, Dash and Ginger were with them as they wanted to say goodbye to their friends. Cayfutray and Ginger's bellies appeared swollen, for they were pregnant and expecting kittens and puppies respectively. Firstly, Linda said goodbye to Blu with a fist bump like she had done before and Blu took off after Jewel and their chicks. Then Francisco lifted Zephyr into the air and allowed Zephyr to take off. Zephyr launched into the air from Francisco's hands and flew away. Jack and Jill then lifted Breezy and Madison into the air and they took off from their hands. Then Francisco, with Cobalt on his arm, heaved his arm into the air, making Cobalt take off and fly after Zephyr, Breezy and Madison. The four Spix macaws then hovered in the air to wait for their now mates. Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake then hugged Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Ruby, Jasper, Emerald, Opal and Sapphire. Tears streamed down the humans' faces as they cherished what could be their very last time together. Dash and Veggie also hugged them. Bruno, Marinho, Jacinthe and Orquidea stood perched near Tulio waiting for their mates also. Before, Tulio had firmly told Susan and Lucy that their four Spix macaws were valuable and had to be released into the wild and it had been hard for the ladies to accept but they knew it was fort the best of their species. Then when the humans, birds, Veggie and Dash broke their hug, Dash looked at Cytosine and his three siblings and friends and said, "Don't forget about us, okay?"

"And we won't forget about you," said Veggie with an edgy voice. Cytosine smiled when Cyafutray said, "Your mates are waiting, macaws."

At this, Susan, Lucy, Blake, Drake and Jake picked up the four Spix macaws, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire, Jasper and Opal on their arms and got prepared to release them. Ruby took off from Susan's arm first and she and Bruno flew off in one direction. Then Jasper took off from Susan's arm and flew off in another direction with Jacinthe. Lucy then allowed Emerlad and Sapphire to fly off from her arms into the jungle, and they were followed by Orquidea and Marinho. Finally, Blake, Jake and Drake allowed Cytosine, Thymine, Adenine and Guanine to take off and fly into the air. The four Spix macaws flew after Zephyr, Breezy, Madison and Cobalt while Opal flew from Drake's arm and followed Jasper and Jacinthe.

"Goodbye, my pets," said Susan with a sniffle as Francisco put an arm around her. Then they, Jack and Jill, Blake, Drake, Jake, Lucy, Linda, Tulio, Fernando, the two cats and the two greyhounds smiled as they watched the eight Spix macaws hover in the air. Zephyr and Thymine then flew off together, followed by Breezy and Cytosine, Guanine and Cobalt, and Adenine and Madison. The eight Spix macaws disappeared into the jungle to start a new chapter of their lives together.

A few more weeks later, the jungle was alive with samba music and its theme song 'Real in Rio'. Birds of various species were singing out loudly. Macaws, parakeets, toucans, and various small birds were singing the music.

Bird chorus: All the birds of a feather (oooh-oh)... do what we love most of all (oooh-oh)... moon and the stars... strummin' guitars... that's why we love carnival-a-a-a-al...

Cardinal: everybody!

Then the beat started to roll. Next, three Spix macaws were twisting through the air and flying around the branches.

Jewel, Zephyr and Breezy: lo-oving our life in the jungle... everything's wild and free...

They were joined by three more Spix macaws Blu, Thymine and Cytosine and some baby Spix macaws, not three but nine, including Blu and Jewel's own Bia, Carla and Tiago.

Blu, Thymine and Cytosine (with chicks): Never alone, 'cos this is our home...

The fifteen then rocketed into the air. The six extra chicks were the offspring of Zephyr, Thymine, Breezy and Cytosine. The two pairs of Spix macaws had a brood of three each. Two of Zephyr and Thymine's chicks were cyan blue while one was dark blue like Blu and Zephyr. Both the cerulean chicks had green feathers like Zephyr while the dark blue one had pink eyes like Thymine. All three of Breezy and Cytosine's chicks were the same shade as their father Cytosine but two had blue eyes while one had lime green eyes like Breezy. However it is possible that the chicks may change in their shade of blue as the age, like how Bia had done. Blu, Zephyr, Cytosine and their families then flew around the jungle and were joined by Cobalt, Guanine, Madison and Adenine and eight more chicks. The chicks were the offspring of Cobalt and Guanine and Madison and Adenine, for they each had four chicks in their brood. Three of Cobalt and Guanine's chicks were dark blue while one was cerulean. The cerulean chick and one of the blue chicks had violet eyes while the other two had blue and green eyes. Madison and Adenine's chicks were inversed; three were light blue while one was dark blue like her mother. The cerulean blue chick and one of the darker blue chicks had yellow eyes while the other two had chartreuse and lime green eyes. Again the chicks may features may change appearance as they grow, but they all looked the same at first. The ten Spix macaw families then perched on a low branch and sang together the next line.

Spix macaws: Magic can happen for Re-e-eal... in Ri-i-io, all by itself (Cobalt and Guanine: by itself), you ca-a-an't see it co-o-oming, you can't find it anywhere else.

Pedro: Im the Cap-o-ei-ra kinga, kinga, kinga, kinga, kinga, birds like me cos Im a hot winga, Pedro hot winga, (caw!)

Nico, Ruby, Bruno and their three chicks: Here everybody loves samba... (Pedro: I like the samba)

Rafael (with his three new chicks and Eva), Jasper, Jacinthe and their two chicks, and Opal: Rhythm you feel in your heart (Pedro: I'm that samba masta!)

Emerald, Oquidea and their two chicks (fly down from above with hyacinth macaws): Beauty and love

Sapphire, Marinho and their only chick: What more could you want?

Everyone: Fantasy cane be for re-e-eal... in Ri-i-io... here's something else (something else)... you ju-u-ust feel, it ha-appening, you won't find it anywhere else!

And with that, Blu and Jewel, Cytosine and Breezy, Cobalt and Guanine, Zephyr and Thymine, Adenine and Madison, Ruby and Bruno, Sapphire and Marinho, Jasper and Jacinthe, Emerald and Orquidea and all their chicks, together with Opal, Nico and Pedro (with Pedro cawing) all flew up and flew off into the sunset together. They then met Susan and Lucy on a hang glider and flew with them over the city of Rio, just like Blu and Jewel did when Tulio and Linda crossed their paths. Then Luiz flew on his own hang glider and shouted, "I love you, Rio!"

**Well, that's it for Rio 1 and a half. Stay tuned for its sequel, which will be mostly set after Rio 2. You'll get to meet the offspring of the main cast. By the way, all original characters like Cytosine, Guanine, Adenine, Thymine, Ruby and the others belong to me, so you can't use them in your stories.**


End file.
